Happy Birthday From Nico
by HiThereSmiley
Summary: All Percy wants to do on his 17th birthday is sleep in. Instead, he gets a surprise visitor hyped up on Red Bull. Rated T just cause.
1. I am the Chosen One

**This is a random story written for today, Percy's birthday**. **They're probably OOC, if so I'm sorry. This is unbetaed and it's my first PJO fanfic.  
**

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**Happy Birthday From Nico**

I was actually having dream and looking forward to sleeping in longer on my seventeenth birthday, when somebody decided to yell into my ear. "Wake up Birthday Boy! I didn't shadow travel all this way to watch you drool!" There were only two people that could be this mean; a shadow-traveling Annabeth, or Nico. I opened up one eye to see who it was.

I groaned. "Nicooo! You couldn't have just let me sleep in peace?"

"Nope! It's a funny story, though, do you want to hear it? Here goes! You see, the Stoll brothers gave me three Red Bulls and bet I couldn't drink all three in three minutes. But I did. See? I got twenty bucks! And in those three minutes I had an epiphany. I realized, since Bianca's gone, I don't have anybody to annoy when I get bored, so I decided, 'Hey the next best thing to annoying your sister, is annoying your cousin! I'll go bug Percy!' By then I finished the Red Bulls, so I got to thinking, 'Hmm, how am I going to do this? I want to get started as soon possible!' Then I remembered it was your birthday! I said to myself, 'How perfect! I can start by waking him up!' So I did. Look, here I am!"

"Here you are," I repeated. He was already achieving his goal. _Why did he have to choose me? He has plenty of other cousins! _"Hey Nico, buddy, if you want to annoy one of your cousins, there's always Thalia, or anybody from the Demeter cabin, even. Why don't you go annoy Katie Gardner today?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes as if to say,_ Oh, Percy, you dumb idiot._ In a slightly calmer tone he said, "I can't annoy _Katie_, that's the Stoll brothers' job. And Thalia, she's a hunter and I'm a boy, Lady Artemis might turn me into a sheep or deer or something if I get anywhere _near _the Hunt."

"Well what about someone _else_ at _camp_?"

He thought about it for a second. "No, it wouldn't be the same," he said very matter of factly.

I sighed. This kid was not going to give up. "But I'm meeting up with Annabeth today, sorry," I said, thinking up an excuse. It wasn't a _complete_ lie. Unfortunately, he knew that.

"But she told me that you guys were just meeting up for a movie and dinner at the _end_ of the day," he said, giving me a look that said, _you can't get rid of me that easily._

I sighed again. I kind of felt bad. Nico didn't have any family outside, unless you count Hades, but I don't think he's one for family bonding time. "Okay, Nico," I finally agreed. "You can follow me around today."

He looked kind of surprised. "Oh, well I wasn't really asking for permission, but okay!" He said getting back into his hyperactive state. "What are we doing today? Can we go to that street fair? Ooh you should introduce me to some of you school friends! Wait, do you even have any? You know what? I don't really care. I know! We should go ice blocking! But where could we do that? Nah, maybe that's not such a great idea, did you know it's illegal in some states? Oh well, don't really care 'bout the law that much. So what do you say? Hey, when are you going to get up anyways?"

"Whoa, there Nico. You've got to slow down, it's still morning. Okay, first let me get dressed, then we'll get some breakfast."

"Okay, okay, I think I'll go use your bathroom. Be right back!" He said, and ran out the door to the bathroom.

I chuckled a little and went to my closet. I put on a blue t-shirt and jeans. I slipped on my shoes and stepped out of my room. Nico was sitting there, cross-legged, on the floor right in front of my door.

"Umm…"

"Come on!" He stood up. "Let's get some breakfast! I'm starving!"

My mom didn't seem surprised that Nico was there with me. She just invited him to sit down, and offered him some blue birthday waffles. Paul just looked at me and raised an eyebrow. After Nico and I wolfed down our waffles, I kissed my mom on the cheek, grabbed my keys, and walked out the door with Nico following behind me. Before he closed the door he stuck his head through the door and called, "Good bye Mr. and Mrs. Blofis!"

Nico may dress like an emo person, but really, I don't think I've ever seen anybody this…alive.

I could tell today was going to be interesting.

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**So how was it? Terrible? Wonderful?**** I need ideas for what Percy and Nico are going to do during the day. So if you have any funny experiences (birthday, friend, or family related), I'd love it if you tell me about it in a review or a PM.**** Please review!**

**Oh yeah, almost forgot. I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Red Bull.**


	2. We Get Gas

**Hey folks! Hehe, I like that word folks. Okay, so sorry for that longish wait. School started, then I went to SCRC, then I had to actually had to write and type something. I loved all those reviews saying they liked the story, but if there's anything wrong (grammar, spelling, OOCness), please tell me, 'cause I thought there were some pretty bad mistakes in the last chapter.  
**

**So this chapter is dedicated to my friend Izabela, whose birthday just so happens to be today, and my grandparents whose 50th anniversary was yesterday! Oooh! This is soo random, but the funniest thing happened with all my cousins yesterday! So all my aunts, uncles****,and cousins that came into town for the anniversary party _today_**** were invited to dinner at my grandparents' house. There were two tables, and my five cousins and I just happened to be at the second table, which was a small plastic table. It was truly the "kids' table." Now _why_ was this so funny? Well four out of five of my cousins are legal adults, _and _my cousin brandon's _wife_ was there with us, too. Yeah...**

**Okay, I'll just let you go on and read the chapter now.**

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****Chapter 2**

As Nico and I were approaching Paul's Prius, Nico blasted his imaginary gun and shouted (in a pretty bad western accent), "Shotgun!" Then he ran the rest of the way to the Prius. Then he leaned his back onto the car and looked back over his shoulder as if to see if anybody was following him, with his "gun" up next to his face. He did this secret agent roll to the passenger's door, still wielding his "gun," and hopped in.

I shook my head and laughed. I got into the car and just as I was putting the keys into the ignition, Nico started glaring at the ignition and began to scold me, "Perseus Jackson,"_ Hmm,_ I wondered, _now told him my real name? I guess I'll have to ask Annabeth about that later,_ "Didn't you ever learn seat belts first? My gods! Even _I _know that, and do you know how many cars with seat belts I've been in? Not many, mister!" He was pretty much giving me a lecture on safety.

"Yeah, I know. I was getting to that," I said tugging on the seat belt and buckling it into place.

"You should have done it first," he grumbled. Then he seemed to get over it and started talking a mile a minute again, asking more questions, "Hey, Percy! Perrcyy! What're we doing today? Can we go bungee jumping? How 'bout ice skating? We could ride on one of those motor-boats or- ooh! Can we go skydiving? Or, I know we could do both! Yeah, both! But how? I got it! We could go to some waterfall and ride in the boat, then at the last minute we jump off the cliff part and you use your semi-demi-Poseidony powers to save us when we hit the water! You would save us, right? I don't feel like paying Daddy dearest _that_ kind of 'little visit.'"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said, making slow, circular arm gestures. "Okay. We can do whatever the Hades you want to do today, as long as it's not illegal, we won't have to travel off Long Island, extra manipulation of the mist will _not _be required, _and," _I paused to make sure Nico was listening, "at five o'clock, when I meet up with Annabeth, _you'll _be somewhere _else_. Okay, do we have a deal?"

Nico rolled his eyes and sighed. He looked bored. "Yeah, yeah, yeah…" I wasn't so sure he got it all, but I wasn't going to dwell on it that long.

"Okay, then. We need to get some gas before we do anything, and what time is it?" I checked the clock. _Holy Zeus! It's only 8:47 in the flippin' morning!_ I could've been in bed, sleeping in, having a nice dream (for once), but _nooo_! I got a little "birthday surprise." I just sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose like those old guys do in the movies in times of distress. Then Nico started snickering. "What?" I asked.

"Hehe! You said 'gas!'"

Wow. And with that I started off towards the nearest gas station.

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It only took about three minutes to get to a gas station, but by the time we got there, Nico looked like he was asleep. He seriously looked like he was knocked out cold. Of course he wasn't. I got out of the car, and opened the little gas door, and unscrewed the gas cap. Nico got out, walked over to me, began tugging on my sleeve, and started whining like a six-year-old asking for an ice cream cone, "Per-cy," he started.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think I could have a couple of bucks to get something to drink inside? I'm reeally thirsty." I said yes, when I probably should have said no, but I was too busy trying to figure out how to work the stupid gasoline pump-machine-thingy.

As he ran into the little gas station shop, I continued trying to master the art of buying gas by pressing the buttons on the machine. Looking back on that, I may have just made it mad at me.

After a couple more minutes, I finally got it to work. I got back into Paul's Prius, thinking how much easier it would have been if cars ran on water. That got me thinking about the big dent in the hood.

Wow. That had been only a little over a year ago. I could remember everything so well. Blackjack landing on the hood; the war; Luke sacrificing himself to save Olympus; my underwater kiss with Annabeth; the extreme influx in half-

Oh. My. Gods.

I couldn't believe I forgot. It was like our anniversary. I needed to think of a way to make tonight extra special so it wouldn't seem like I forgot. My thoughts were interrupted by Nico, who was skipping out of the shop, empty handed. He got into the car and smiled at me. Just smiled.

"Uhh… Nico?"

"Oh yeah!" He said, still smiling. He dug his hand into his pocket, rummaged around for a second, and pulled out two quarters, "There you go!"

"Umm, thanks," I took the quarters and put them into my pocket. "But, uhh, I thought you were getting something to drink."

"I did," he said still smiling.

"So where is it?" I asked, getting a little worried.

"Where's what?"

"Your drink?"

"Oh, _that_," he said, smiling bigger, "I drank it! I got another Red Bull!"

"Oh," I said. _ Why couldn't he have gotten a coke or something? _I thought. Then, with his next question, all hope of having a normal day with my cousin was shattered.

"Hey! Can I take the wheel for a little while? Just for a _little_ joy ride?"

_Oh_ Hades_, help me now.

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**Okay, so how was it? I still need ideas** **for what they should do "today." So yeah, give me your ideas****, I may or may not use them, though. Sorry i****f I don't****.**

**For those of you who may be wondering, there will be a Percabeth moment, but it'll be towards the end-ish. But just to let you folks know, I'm pretty bad at writting romance, but like I said it's toward the end.**

**So let's not forget this disclaimer thingy: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Red Bull, or the Toyota Prius.**

**Review!  
**


	3. The House is Terminated

**Hey! I've got a perfectly good explanation as to why I haven't updated in like forever. Ya know, school as usual, The Lost Hero, some of those days when you you have tons to do, but are still bored out of you mind. Yeah, I have a lot of those. They're called weekends. So anyways, I'm dedicating this chapter to three folks. My friend Lexi, whose b-day was yesterday, my buddy Beth, whose b-day was today, and an anonymous reviewer under the name of 'ploke' for getting me off my lazy ass and start writing again.**

**And believe it or not I didn't plan this coincidental birthday happening. Seriously, because I stayed up a good portion of the night drawing a pic for Beth's b-day card, reading To Kill a Mockingbird for school, reading The Lost Hero for pleasure (I'm only about halfway through, so no spoilers! I'm savoring the sweet taste of something new and good to read), and WRITING most of THIS CHAPTER, that I completely forgot her card on my desk. Then when I got to school (well more like her, cuz I'm always the first kid in the school to get there) I was like "frick, frick, FRICK!" So I hope you like it. You better. Kidding, of course. R&R!**

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**Chapter 3**

_Thump, thump, thump_

"Perr-cyy!"

_Thump, thump_

For the last couple of minutes, Nico had really warmed up to the idea of him driving. He even gave me a small speech about why he _should _get to drive.

Me? I was banging my head against the steering wheel, hoping he'd shut up.

"Perr-cyy!"

It _kinda _worked. I mean, he gave up on the driving, but _now _he was whining.

"You know that if you keep banging your head against the wheel, you're losing more and more brain cells. Annabeth said that you don't have spare brain cells to lose. Can I drive _now_?"

I groaned. "No, that would be illegal. You're too young. Remember, we're going to keep it safe today and follow the law."

"Oh. Then how 'bout we shadow travel to Antarctica to see the penguins? Have you ever seen a penguin before? I haven't, just in some books Bianca made me read sometimes when we were at the Lotus Casino. They were kind of interesting, but I don't see why-"

I cut him off, "We're going to stay on Long Island, too. Remember? Weren't you listening when I went over the rules for today?"

"Ye, I was," he said indignantly. Then his expression turned into sadness. "I guess that means we can't take Mrs. O'Leary around with us."

I would never tell Nico this, but right then he looked cute, in a sad puppy kind of way. "Sorry, buddy. Not today." _At least he remembered the 'no extra Mist' rule, _I thought.

He sighed. "Then what are we going to do today?"

"Well, being the Seaweed Brain that I am, I completely forgot about my one-year anniversary with Annabeth. I need to-"

"What kind of boyfriend are you! Man, you better get her something good, or else you are so screwed."

"Thanks, I know. As I was saying, I need to find something for her at mall sometime today. I was thinking we could do that now, and have the rest of the day to ourselves. Until 5:30, that is." Nico nodded in agreement. "Okay, then. Let's go."

I restarted the engine, and Nico shouted, "To the mall!"

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We pulled out of the gas station, and for the first couple of minutes Nico was quiet. Oh, he was bouncing a mile per hour, but he was quiet.

All of a sudden he shouted at me. "Turn here!" He yelled.

"Why?"

"Because!"

I didn't want to argue with him, but I _did _want to get to the mall. So I turned.

"There!" He was pointing to a big, red, blue, and yellow bounce house in the middle of an almost empty parking lot. "I want to bounce in the bounce house!"

"Nico, I need to get to the mall. I don't have time for this."

He huffed. "_We _have all the time in the world, the mall can wait, and I just want to take a quick bounce," he argued. Is there such thing as a 'quick bounce'?

I thought about it. _On the upside, if I let him bounce the life out of himself, he'd probably tire out and stay calm for the rest of the day. On the downside, the mall…_ "Fine. For five minutes." I parked the Prius in the parking lot next to the other cars. There was a pretty cheerleader stationed at a table next to the bounce house entrance. My dyslexia was acting up, so the only part of her sign I could read was "8-12." "Oh, looks like it's only for kids age eight to twelve, Nico. You're too big. Sorry, man."

He looked at the sign and smiled smugly. "Check again. It says it's open from 8am-12pm. Here, _all_ ages are _welcome _to bounce." I rolled my eyes at him. I walked towards the table, Nico close behind.

"Hi!" The cheerleader greeted us. She looked vaguely familiar, with her blonde hair and her purple uniform. There was something written on it, but I couldn't read it. You know my dyslexia. "Admission is two dollars," she said smiling at us.

I pulled out my wallet and handed her two one-dollar bills.

"Thank you!" She said, taking my two dollars, and putting them into a shoe box.

"No, thank _you_!" Nico shouted, and just hopped right in, and started bouncing away. The cheerleader giggled.

"Cute brother," she said.

"Oh… uh, he's not my brother."

"Oh, right. Cousin?"

"Umm, yeah." Behind her, Nico was rocking out on an air guitar with another little boy, probably about nine years old. There were about five other kids in there. Feeling awkward, I let my ADHD take over, and started looking at the people around me. There was an elderly couple watching a little girl in the bounce house. They looked happy. There was a mom and her scary looking teenager son having an intense conversation about something. I decided not to get into that. There was a girl off to the side, probably Nico's age, texting on her expensive looking phone. Not too interesting. Then my eyes fell back on the cheerleader. Now, it's not like I was interested, 'cause I got a girlfriend, remember, but this girl was really pretty.

I guess she could feel me looking at her, because she turned her head towards me and smiled. "My name's Tammi. What's yours?"

I smiled back. "My name's Percy."

She quirked an eyebrow. "Perseus _Jackson? _Well, son of Poseidon, it's been awhile, hasn't it? What has it been? Two? Three years? Oh what does it matter, I'm so glad that I finally get to have you as my snack." And faster than I could blink, she stood up from her chair, and with great strength I wouldn't have thought a cheerleader possessed, threw the table aside.

"W-what?" Then it hit me. _Tammi._ It was Tammi, the empousa from freshman orientation.

"What's the matter Perseus? I just want one bite." I could see her miss-matching legs and fangs, now.

I pulled out Riptide and uncapped it. I killed you once, and I can kill you again. Come closer, and you'll turn to dust, like you should be."

She laughed. "Haha! Yes, well I was just a newbie then. I assure you that I'm a little more advanced than I used to be."

"Well, so am I." Quick as I could, I lunged at her with my sword. She easily ducked and made to take a bite out of my arm. Just in the nick if time, I moved my arm. That's how it went. Lunge. Duck. Bite. Move. Over and over again. I could tell she was playing a game with me. She wasn't trying. Somehow we ended up right in front of the bounce house. I was getting tired. We had been going at this for a good twenty minutes. Finally, just as Tammi was about to grab my neck and take a good bite, I ever so _expertly_ kicked her metal leg. Since she didn't expect me to take such a… brilliantly_ stupid_ move, she also didn't expect me to follow up with a good stab to her side. Bye 'good' I mean I put all my weight into the blow, not only causing myself to be covered in an ample amount of monster dust, but also stabbing the bounce house.

Inside the deflating bounce house, kids screamed and shouted. I tried to get them out in an orderly fashion, but you _know_ there was pushing and shoving. So of course _I _get pushed and shoved, as well.

Nico wasn't helping. He, in a way, was the worst. On top of the pushing, shoving, and screaming, he was yelling things not appropriate in public like, "What the Hades is going around here?", and "Why are you covered in monster dust? Oh gods, what was it _this _time?", and my personal favorite "Well, you blow up schools all the time, so why not bouncy houses?"

And you know, I love the Mist. Those mortals didn't even understand what happened. They probably would have been led to think that a chord got unplugged, or something, but no. Nico had to plant the idea that I blew up the bounce house in their heads. But I love the Mist, because I was still able to unplug a chord, say Tammi had tripped on it and was going to clean herself up, and say that she wanted to close for the rest of the day. They believed every word of it. For once.

By the time everyone left, and Nico and I were back in the Prius, it was just about 9:30.

I still had about eight hours until I had to meet Annabeth for our date. I had plenty of time until then, but with this kid, that could easily be changed to eight _minutes._

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_**Okay how was it? I love your ideas, but please remember Percy's rules for 'today'. Just cuz I'm nice I'll re-list them:**

**1. Gotta be legal  
2. Long Island limits  
3. No extra Mist- on PURPOSE  
4. Percabeth 5:30**

**I'll try to use everybody's ideas, but if I don't then I often put them as Nico's little suggestions. Or they're to come later.  
Reviews make me Smiley :)  
**


	4. Nico Gives Me Musical Insight

**Hey. So... How was your November? Oh, well _mine _was pretty good, I was really busy you see. Okay, I know I'm a horrible person, who doesn't update. I'm sorry, I really was busy though! I had millions of rehearsals for The Nutcracker. Then there was our school's Christmas show tonight. I think we were rather incredible. If you get what I mean by incredible. Eh, if you're smart you'll get it.**

**Okay, so you know how I always seem to have a birthday report? Well yesterday was my friend Brenissa's b-day, and I believe it was also Taylor Swift's 21st, too. But _today_ it'sone of my may fictional crushes's birthday: Ciel Phantomhive! (From the anime Kuroshitsuji) 135 years old today! Woot woot! ...Yeah, I'll let you read the chapter now.**

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****Chapter 4**

"Nononononono NO!"

Apparently Nico di Angelo does not like stop-and-go traffic jams. We had only been at it for a few minutes, but Nico acted like it was it was the worst thing that could happen to him. I personally think that the worst thing that could happen would be to be kidnapped, be forced to live among mortal enemies, and lose all my memory. Okay, maybe that's a little outrageous, but being stuck with a claustrophobic Nico in a traffic jam is not all that epically awesome. Especially when he's bored.

"Ugh! When are we going to get to the stupid mall? I'm so bored, and I can't breathe right in here!"

"We could turn on the radio. That could make it less boring," I suggested. What I _really _meant was, _"If we turned on the radio, you'd probably start jammin' out and stop complaining."_

"Yeah, okay. Can I roll down the window? I'm like dying over here!"

I nodded, turning the radio on and up. Nico rolls down the window and leans so his head sticks out. After a while I hear him humming. The song was some rock- I think- song I never heard before.

"Uh, Nico…"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry," he says, and he looks almost sad. "I just like Linkin Park. The songs really… They just really relate to me."

I listened for a second.

_I don't want to be the one  
The battles always choose  
'Cause inside I realize  
That I'm the one confused..._

Oh.

The song finally ended, and some Usher song came on. Something about DJs and falling in love.

Randomly, Nico pipes up with, "Why are rappers so conceited?"

"What?" I was very confused. All ol' Usher was singing about was DJs, love and the occasional mention of eyes.

"I mean, why do they have to say their own freaking name at the beginning of every song? It's like dude, get on with the song, nobody _cares_ about what your name is. We already _know _anyways! Gods, it's _so _annoying! And it's not even just the rappers! Like even Cobra Starship says their name in that one song and JB says _her_ name in that _other _song!"

"JB? You mean Justin Bieber?"

"Yeah, her."

"But… Okay," I said. I had figured out that when it comes to Justin Bieber, you should just agree with whoever you're with. Last year, some freshman got beat up by a group of girls for calling him a fag, or gay, or something.

"It doesn't matter. They still say their own names during their songs."

I sighed._ Is it really that bad? And does that even make them _conceited_? _"Well if it really bothers you _that _much, then I'll change the station."

"Okay, thanks," he said looking back out the window.

I changed the station, and almost instantly Nico screamed in what sounded like terror.

"What? What's the problem now?" It was a good thing that we were stopped or else I might have crashed into another car.

"What do mean, 'What's the problem?'! This song is a complete insult to us!"

"Demigods?"

"No! Citizens of the United States of America! Like seriously? Tell me- and don't lie- have you ever, in your whole life, nodded your head like 'yeah'," He made little air-quotes when he said the word yeah, "Oh, or how about moving your _hips _like 'yeah'? _I _certainly do not 'put my hands up' whenever I hear a cool song! Like who does that? It's retarded! Do you do that? I didn't think so! Uuggghh!"

_Um, whoo-hoo, Nico, I didn't say anything yet. _I quickly changed the station to avoid any further problems. It was a Taylor Swift song. She kept singing about this Drew was no way Nico could have something bad to say about perfectly innocent Taylor. Everybody loves her. I know Annabeth likes her, and I've heard some of the Demeter girls, most likely Katie Gardner or Miranda Gardiner, who had the gifts of crop-singing or whatever it's called, singing her songs to the strawberries in the fields to help them grow. Thalia even once told me that the Hunters of Artemis enjoy listening to Taylor's songs, even though most of them are about love of some sort. Even I don't mind listening to her sometimes.

I didn't even notice that Nico was quiet. He was just listening intently, looking out the window. He looked almost sad again. "You like Taylor Swift?" I asked, half joking.

"No," he said softly, "but Bianca did. Sometimes, when I would fall and scrape my knee or something, she would sing to me to make me feel better. They were usually Taylor Swift songs. Bianca was never a girly person, but she _was _a Taylor fan."

I felt sorry for Nico all over again. Even though both Nico and I were passed it, I still felt guilty, like it was my fault that Bianca died almost three years ago.

After awhile, the traffic cleared up a bit, and we were on our way to the mall. We still sat there in silence, listening to Taylor Swift for the rest of the drive. Man, was I happy about _that_.

When _Nico_ got out of the car, what _he_ did was fall to his knees, and shout, "Land! Sweet land!" I thought he would have started kissing the pavement by the way he was acting, but later he told me that he was much too "dignified" to do something so ridiculous. Yeah, like what he did next was _sooo_ dignifying.

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**Now for the record, these music opinions are _Nico's, _not mine. Don't hate me, hate Nico (and let's face it, you can't). But can anyone name all 6 songs mentioned (that I do not own)? Whoever gets all 6 will get a pretty red(ish) Christmas lightbulb that exploded within itself! It also comes with the burns-through-and-melts-tree-skirts option completely free of charge! Available for a limited time only. To order click the link below! Once again that's 1-800-i-do-not-own-P-J-O**

**Link to Order****  
~VvVvVvVvVvV~  
**


	5. Nico PrankIMs For the Holidays

**MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

**Now with that out of the way, the answers to last chapter's little music quiz-thing: 1) Breaking the Habit- Linkin Park, 2) DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love- Usher, 3) Hot Mess- Cobra Starship, 4) Love Me- Justin Bieber (my *overly obsessed* friend helped me with that one. I didn't choose it myself. My opinions on JB are the same as Percy. That is all), 5) Party in the USA- Miley (weird) Cyrus, and 6) Teardrops on My Guitar- Taylor Swift (ya know I had one of her new songs in my head all day). I was really surprised that nobody got all 6 correct. A lot of yall were close, but no cigar (cuz they nasty! XP). This just means nobody got the exploding lightbulb *cough*thatmymommythrewaway*cough***

**Anyhoot, this chapter goes to my hilarious friend Georgie, whose birthday was today! So I used her name. Not that she's ever even heard of fanfiction. Ya know, I like this update on birthdays thing. It works for me. I think I'll keep with it. Lucky for you, I happen to know lots of January birthdays =D**

**I will let you read the chapter now, yes I will. Remember:  
_Those who do not own Percy Jackson, write fanfiction.  
_~HiThereSmiley  
(For those of you who are just that dumb- kidding- that means I don't own PJO)**

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Chapter 5**

Now, I don't know about you guys, but my "local" mall is huge. There's a huge food court, huge stores, huge bathrooms, and a huge skylight over a huge crystal-like fountain that you almost trip over (and into) when you enter through the huge front doors. Everything is just pretty much… huge.

Nico ran into the mall and just stood there. He was gawking at the fountain, like he had an idea. "Hey, Percy," he started, "can I have a drachma?"

I looked at him, trying to figure out what he was planning, "Why?"

"Uh… to prank Iris Message my dad…" he mumbled.

"Nico, I don't want to be blasted by your dad. I don't think it would be a good idea to prank IM him," I said. "Plus, he would _see _us. I don't see how your plan would work, anyway."

He pouted, "Fine." Then he pulled a drachma of his own- _What the Hades, then why'd he ask _me _for one?_ - And tossed it into the mist. Then he shouted- so loudly, I was sure the whole mall could hear, "Oh, Iris! Pretty please, with rainbows on top, could you lemme get through to my dad?" He threw his hood over his head, and pulled it down, so whoever answered the Iris Message wouldn't see him clearly. The mist shimmered, and the words 'PLEASE HOLD' appeared. He turned back to me, smirking underneath his hood.

I looked around. So far, nobody noticed the strange words flashing in the fountain. They just walked past us, some of them giving Nico strange looks for gawking at the fountain.

But then- oh no- there was a little girl- probably about eight year's old- that was pointing at Nico. "Mama, Mama," she said, tugging on her mother. "Look at those words in the fountain! Look!"

"Oh, Georgie, don't be silly," her mom said. Just then the mist of the fountain swirled and the face of Lord Hades appeared in the fountain. More like _on _the fountain.

Nico started talking as soon as the image was clear, "Hello? Is this thing on?" Hades just looked at him, and then glanced at me. I just shrugged. It was really obvious that Nico was the one in the hood.

Hades rolled his eyes and sighed. He was going to play along. "Um, hello. To whom am I speaking to, and what is it you need? I am a busy god, with all the traffic in my realm, and whatnot. So speak up," he said.

"Well," Nico started, "my name is, uh, _Henry, _and I was just wondering, if your refrigerator is running." He sounded like he was trying not to laugh.

"You see, Henry, our refrigeration, here in the Underworld, is not powered by electricity, but is cooled with Stygian Ice. So, no, my refrigerator is _not _running."

"Oh. Well, is _that _running?"

The little girl Georgie's, eyes widened. She tugged on her mom's sleeve and said, "Look! Now that boy is talking to a face in the fountain! _Look!_"

"Georgie, stop shouting. That young man's just talking to his big brother. Let's mind our own business, now. Okay, sweet-heart? How about we go get a snow-cone?" Big brother? Was she talking about me?

"But he- I saw- okay." Poor kid. It sucks to be able to see through the Mist.

Just then Nico screamed, "Cheetos and taco trucks!" I saw him jump up and swipe his arm through the Iris Message, disconnecting his little prank call to Hades. He landed right into the fountain. The water was up to his knees. He laughed and stomped around, getting himself even more wet.

Oh gods. I had to get him out. A mall cop/officer-guy was headed toward us. "Nico!" I called. "Nico, come on! We have to go, get out of the fountain! Dude, that guy's gonna yell at us if you don't get out!" When he came over to see what I was yelling about, I simply lifted him out of the fountain and started dragging him by the elbow. Okay, it wasn't that simple. Nico was heavy and wet. And he kept struggling. I started to head away from the fountain, and I concentrated on making him dry.

"Hey! What's going on? Let go of me, Percy!"

I let go of his elbow and said, "Okay, I let go. We have to go before-"

"Hey boys, could you come here for a minute?" The mall officer called to us. I tried to stay in front of Nico, so he couldn't see Nico.

"Yes, sir?"

"You boys weren't messing with the fountain, were you?"

"Why would we do that?" I asked, trying to sound innocent. I kept concentrating on making Nico dry.

"Well I'm pretty sure I saw your brother over _in_ the fountain."

_What? _"My brother? He's not-" I started. He cut me off.

"Now why don't you just step aside, and let me talk to him," he said, and brushed past me. "Hello there," he said to Nico. "What's your name?"

Nico looked at me like, _What does this guy want? _Then he smiled. "My name is Henry-" he squinted at the man's nametag, "-Michele," he finished.

The guy chuckled, "Actually, my name is Mitchell. But you can call me Officer Smith."

"Okay, _Officer Smith_," Nico agreed, holding up a thumbs up. "What's up, _Officer Smith_?" He just kept grinning.

"Well Henry, you know that the fountain over yonder? Well I saw you playing around in it, and you see that's against the rules."

"Why Officer Smith! Don't be silly. Does it look like I've been in the fountain?" He pointed to his now dry pants. Officer Smith looked very confused. I guess he never met a son of Poseidon. Of course, that could be because I'm the only one living at the moment. Nico (still smiling) said, "You must have us confused with somebody else. Here's something for your troubles." Of all things to give this guy, Nico gave him a drachma (also his own). Really. What was a mortal going to with a gold drachma?

Mouth agape, Officer Smith stared at the drachma. We walked to the first store to get a gift for Annabeth.

* * *

The first place we went to was a place called "The Holiday Store." It was a store where they sold stuff that was holiday themed. I don't know, Nico wanted to go there. We had time. It was barely 10:30 in the morning.

I just walked around, looking at the different things they had for sale. There was a section for each month of the year. January to June was on the left wall, while July to December was on the right. The checkout place was in the center of the shop, and the back wall was completely devoted to holiday socks, which were organized by color of the rainbow. In the room there were Halloween costumes, mini artificial Christmas trees, Valentine's Day cards, and green shamrock stuff.

I checked out the August area (because it _is _August), only to find pencils, backpacks, and lunchboxes. I figured. Nothing too exciting happens in August… except school resuming. I went to the February area to see if there was anything that wasn't too mushy that Annabeth might've liked. Some of the things over there were kind of embarrassing. I decided to check out the socks.

Let it be known that there weren't just socks on that wall. There were socks, then knee-high socks, then stockings, then toed socks, then stockings, then leggings, too. _Hey, you've got a whole wall, why not use it up, _I thought. I was looking at the blue sock area, trying to decide if I would look more ridiculous in the thigh-high stockings or the leggings with the polka-dots, when some kid wearing a Yoda mask jumped out from behind a stack of firework boxes. Then he shouted at me, "I am Yoda! Fear my big ears of awesome greeny-ness!" It was pretty obvious that it was Nico.

"Hey, Nico. Did you find anything interesting?"

Taking off the mask he said, "Well, I saw some kindacool stuff, but not too cool. You?" He threw the mask off to the side.

I decided not to tell him about the stockings and the leggings. "No, not really."

Then he glanced at the checkout counter. He grinned, "Then let's blow this popsicle stand." He flipped his hair, and walked out of there with what looked like some son of Hades swagger.

I laughed, and followed him out (but I didn't use any son of Poseidon swagger... which I_ do _have).

* * *

**So which, in your opinion would Percy look more ridiculous in: the blue thigh-high stockings or the blue polka-dot leggings? Tell me. I'd like to know what you folks think. I still need ideas for the next 7ish, more like 6ish hours. So give me your ideas! Oh, yeah. And this is the closest thing those who asked for Halloween and Christmas chapters are going to get. Same for anybody who wants a Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day or whatever chapter. No more holidays, it's just August. Other than that, please, ideas! I'd love to know what you want to... uh, happen, haha!**


	6. I Get a Makeover

**Jesuka-!**

**It's my object of torture's birthday! She's turning 10! Okay, just kidding. Yesterday, my friend Jessica turned 18. So now when she beats me up, I can arrest her for hurting a minor! Just kidding... AGAIN!  
Anyhoot, I used her in here. Again, not that she's ever heard of fanfiction.**

**Aaahh! It's also Mikalie's b-day!  
**

**And apparently you guys think (almost unanimously) that Percy would look more ridiculous in blue polka-dotted leggings than thigh-high blue stockings. But as I said to somebody, it really don't matter what we think. It only matters that either way, Annabeth would be giving him a nice slap to the face. And this, my dears, is why I love Percabeth.  
**

**Oh yeah, and I got a new computer (cuz the old one was too retarded to load photoshop), and I had to get all the new stuff to go with it, so there are probably lots of mistakes in my typing (most likely in quotations) cuz I don't do well with new computer technology junk.**

**So... yeah... I'll let you read now.  
**

**

* * *

Chapter 6**

We didn't walk to far away from The Holiday Store when we came to Macy's. Nico was going to keep walking so I said, "Hold on. Let's go in here real quick." I didn't know if I could afford something from Macy's, but hey, I could look, right? In the front of the our Macy's (on the bottom floor) is the men's' department. You have to go upstairs to get to the juniors' department.

We walked past the appliance and kitchen departments, Nico giving me suggestions like a dishwasher, a purple mixing bowl, Red Bull.

I paused for a second. "I don't think that Annabeth would like a Red Bull," I said. Annabeth just didn't seem like one for energy drinks.

"Oh, well_ I_ would," he mumbled as we kept walking.

We finally got to the escalators. There were two right next to each other. One going up, and one going down. I got one the escalator going up! When we reached the top, I looked back, because Nico was being a little too quiet. He wasn't there. I looked down the escalator. He was just standing there, looking at the moving steps. Then he looked up at me.

"Uh, Nico? Are you coming up?" I called down to him. He glanced back down to the steps and then back up to me.

He shook his head and said, "I don't know how!"

_You've got to be kidding me._ "What do you _mean _you 'don't know how'?" I said. I probably shouted this, because I couldn't believe that Nico di Angelo didn't know how to go up an escalator.

"I never been on one of these-" he looked at the sign next to the base of the escalator, "-ecsalatoras," he finished.

I sighed. I couldn't just leave him there. He'd get into trouble, or he'd get snatched up by some creepy pedophile, or _worse. _He could tell mall security that I just left him there. Sorry, but I did _not _need 'Officer Smith' to give me another talking to. This time, about leaving my "brother" alone in Macy's. I had to go get him. I took the down escalator and walked down the last couple of steps. I didn't want to waste my time with this.

"Look, Percy, I-"

I cut him off. "Don't speak. Concentrate," I said, pushing him towards the escalator. "Now all you do is stick your foot out like this," I showed him, "and step onto one of the steps. Try it."

He stuck out his foot, but hesitated with the stepping part. So I gave him a little push and stepped on myself. Now, I really wouldn't advise doing that, because sometimes kids fall. But, I mean, I had to do it. We would have been there all day, and there were other people who needed to use the up escalator.

So I caught Nico. Sort of. He fell into me, and I would have fallen too, if I hadn't grabbed onto both sides of the escalator, and held on for dear life. Pushing on my_ face_, he sturdied himself, and stood on the step on his own. I let go of the rubber railing and stood up straight." That was when I realized he could have just shadow traveled up. Gods, I was stupid_. Too late now_, I thought.

"See? That wasn't so bad," I said.

"Uh-huh, sure it wasn't," he grumbled, and glared at me. His mood changed when we got into the juniors' department. "What. The freaking heck, is this," he didn't say it like a question. He sounded disgusted.

"What?" I asked him. The stuff was a little weird, but it wasn't _that _bad.

"This stuff looks like poop. Like that has got to be the ugliest shirt I have ever seen. And it's so tiny. It could fit me, but it's not even worthy of fitting me." Nico was pointing to a small pink dress that would probably show a little too much skin of whoever is wearing it. It would have been scary seeing Annabeth wearing it. "And what about those pants? Why are they all ripped up? They shouldn't be on sale if they're all messed up like that! Gods, and this jacket looks like it was made for a gorilla! The jacket part is only like half the size of the sleeves! What kind of clothing store is this?"

I thought that he was overreacting, but I did somewhat agree with him. Annabeth would spit on clothes like this. I know some of the Aphrodite girls at camp- Drew- wear this kind of clothes. I've always thought Drew was weird. And mean.

Nico kept criticizing the merchandise, so I decided it would be best to leave. People were starting to look at us. We were walking towards the big open exit, when this lady, probably twenty-ish years old, called out to us. The lady was standing behind the makeup counter, and she was wearing a lot of heavy makeup, like she was giving a preview of what it would look like if you bought Mac makeup.

"Hi, how can I help you?" She smiled at us.

Nico smiled back. "We're trying to find a present for Annabeth!" He said happily.

"Annabeth? That's a pretty name. Is she your sister? Girlfriend? Cousin?" She asked. It seemed like she was prying. Maybe it was just me.

"Annabeth is Percy's girlfriend!" Nico cheered?

"Really?" The lady said. As we walked over to her, I noticed her nametag said that her name was Jessica. "Well," Jessica said, "If you look over here, I think I have just the thing for Annabeth, Percy." In the class counters, were whole boxed sets of Mac makeup. On the boxes, there were pictures of girls with dark eye makeup and heavy eyeliner and long lashes. I didn't think Annabeth was into that kind of stuff.

"Um, Annabeth isn't really one for make- up," I said, trying to get Nico to leave.

Jessica just laughed. "Oh nonsense! Every girl wears makeup!" She said, like it was an obvious fact. That happens to be false. I can think of several girls who don't wear makeup. Annabeth does not wear makeup. Clarisse does not wear makeup. Katie Gardner does not wear makeup. Thalia does wear make-up, but that's a different story. The point is, I know plenty of girls who do not wear make-up. "Oh here, just look," she said, pulling me over to her and sitting me in this tall green plastic chair.

I tried to stand up, but she pushed be back down. Nico stood by and looked like he was having fun. Jessica pulled out one of the boxes. On the top, somebody wrote in black marker the words, 'Sample Set'. I gulped. This lady was kind of scaring me. When she opened the box she smiled, like everything was just so perfect.

Still smiling, she turned to me. Then she did what no man would ever want. She started putting the make-up on my face. Why she thought that was remotely okay, I don't know.

Then there was Nico. He wasn't laughing, but he didn't look like he was planning on saving me. No, instead he said, "Well, I see you're a little preoccupied, so I'll just be right back. Bye!" I tried to get up to bring him back, but Jessica was in the way. In no time he was out of sight.

* * *

When I finally left Macy's and I found a bathroom to wash my face, I remembered I had to go find Nico. The mall was huge, remember? This wasn't going to be too easy. From the Macy's exit, he went to the right.

One thing. 'To the right' is where most of the mall was. I started walking in that general direction, not quite knowing where I was going, but then I heard laughter. Nico's laugh. I ran to where I heard his voice shouting things about being Speedy di Angelo.

When I got to him, I saw that he was ridding in one of those rides you pay fifty cents to ride. Since he was actually too big to fit into the little black car, he had his legs all scrunched up to his chest, so he was sitting in the fetal position on the small plastic seat. He had one hand on the tiny steering wheel, and the other was waving something above his head. He took a drink from whatever he was holding, and I saw. Nico was drinking another Red Bull.

* * *

**Okay! So as I was typing this, I felt very repetitive. Did anyone notice that I started a _lot _more sentences than usual with I, he, she, or whatever. I did not like this chapter. I procrastinated as long as I could, and I had to fill my ears with Linkin Park to get me to finish it. It's kinda- not too much- important to the story-line (which I DO have, this is _not_ a random/crack-fic), but I still don't like it.**

**ANYhoot, I don't own Macy's, Mac makeup, Red Bull, Speedy Gonzales (if you caught that reference), or anything PJO related!**

**There was something else...Oh yeah! I have a little challenge for anyone who feels like doing it. Okay, so Percy said, "Thalia does wear makeup, but that's another story," right? Well, I didn't literally mean a whole 'nother story, but here it is:**  
**Write a 3 sentence**** (max)**** 'preview/summary' for a story like that.**

** Ooh! And let's make this interesting! Anyone who does the (not so much of a) challenge (whether they were awesome or they sucked) will get a short preview of chapter 7! And to motivate you, here's a quick preview of the preview!:  
_Chapter 7: Nico Goes Sweet  
_Yeah, so are you motivated? No? Okay, but would you just review for a poor little 10 year-old-not-really, anyway?_  
_**


	7. Nico Goes Sweet

**Hey folks! Today is the super über megafoxyawesomehot actor Logan Lerman's birthday! Yup, you guessed it! The Percy actor! Whooo! Oh yeah, and tomorrow is my frienemy's birthday as well as this dude in my class that kinda creeps me out... for uh... reasons...**

**Anyhoot! You're luck I got this up in time! I have sooo may things going on right now.**

**I do not own PJO, the iPhone, AT&T, Red Bull, Hot Topic, or Ouran High School Host Club (it's not really in there, but I used enough references for it to be. Heheh, my new obsession), or anything else I mentioned.  
**

**

* * *

Chapter 7**

"…Uh…"

"Yee-haw!"

"…Nico…"

"Oh yeah, baby!"

"_Nico._"

"Whoo-hoo!"

"Nico!"

He finally turned his head to look at me. "Oh hi Percy! I am having so much fun! Have you ever ridden in one of these? I feel like I'm on a high speed chase, with the wind rushing through my hair! And blowing in the-"

High speed chase? He was going about three miles per hour. Actually not even that, because the same distance he traveled forward, he traveled backward. It was more like negative three miles per hour. And his hair wasn't blowing through the breeze. What breeze? We were in a mall.

Just then the little car stopped. "Aw," he said. Then he looked at me. "You have enough change for me to go again? I'll let you ride on the back!"

"Uh, no." We didn't have time for another ride, and I think I would have broken the ride if I had gone on.

"Okay," he said, trying to remove himself from the car. He got out and stood next to me. We were just standing there, facing the small black car. Finally he tuned to me. Grinning he asked, "So where we off to next?"

"Well, uh, it's getting closer to lunchtime, so if we just start heading toward the food court, there should be some other places to go on the way. Then we can have lunch."

"Okay! Sounds like a plan!" He just kept giving me that creepy grin. To tell the truth, it was kind of cute, which made it so creepy. With one quick squeeze and twist, he crushed the Red Bull can with his hands. Then he tossed it into the nearest trash can. It was a perfect shot. "Let's go!"

XXX~XXX

The walk towards the food court wasn't too bad. Sure Nico was totally friendly to everybody who crossed our path. He would wave and give a happy "Hi!" or "Hello!" and in one case "What up homie?" Now I don't know about you, but in New York, we don't say hello to random strangers that may happen to cross our way.

We went into a couple of other stores. We went into a Hot Topic store, and Nico tried to get me to get a pair of matching T-shirts that had the words 'Special Kid' on it.

"We'd match!" he said happily. When I said that we weren't going to get them, he got this hurt look on his face. "What? You don't want to match with me? Why not? I thought we'd look adorable in them!" He looked ready to sit in his own little reject corner.

"No," I lied. "It's just that they don't have your size T-shirt. They're all too big. Sorry, dude." Okay, I wasn't actually that sorry, but he seemed to bounce back to being happy again.

"Oh, okay! Too bad, it would have been fun! Well, we better keep going!" Then he just skipped out of the store.

We went into an AT&T store, and some old guy tried to sell me an iPhone. Did I look like I could buy one? No, but Nico agreed with the man, and told me that it was totally what Annabeth needed.

"Really!" He said. "Then if she were ever to get into danger, mugged, kidnapped, or otherwise, Annabeth would call _you- _her _hero- _to come and save her! And then she could use the wifi to entertain herself while you get ready, because I know how much of a morning person you are- very much like the Low Blood Pressure Evil Lord- it would probably be awhile 'til you actually get there. I wonder if dear Annabeth would be killed off by then…" _I'm pretty sure that she would figure out a way to get out of a predicament like that _before _she had to call me._

"Uh, I don't think so. She already has a cell phone," I said pushing Nico toward the exit. And when we were out I said, "And demigods aren't supposed to use them anyways."

Then there was that candy shop we went to. Oh how much I regretted going into that little candy shop.

I wasn't really even considering entering, but Nico grabbed my arm and said, "Look! We _have _to go in there!" Then he started dragging me inside.

There was a little bell that rung as he pushed open the door. There was a boy sitting at the counter. It looked like he was taking a nap on it. The ringing of the bell must have woken him up, because he jolted up, almost falling of his stool. "What the fucking hell!" He cursed.

An older woman came out from what must have been the storage room. "What' going on out here, Logan? Why all the racket?" She demanded. Then she saw us. "Oh! Customers! What can I do for you fine gentlemen?"

"Well, I-" I started.

Nico interrupted me, "Whoa! You have a lot of different candies! They look sooo good!"

The woman shifted all her attenion to him. "Why of course! All of the candy here at Lerman Collections are good!"

"I certainly can see that, madam." She and Nico walked to the other side of the store, talking about the different chocolates and other candies they sold. They left me with this kid. Logan?

I studied him. He looked about fifteen old. Maybe sixteen. His long brown hair fell perfectly above his eyes, which were this blue color, but almost violet. I could just see the Aphrodite girls throwing themselves at him. I could _also _see Annabeth and Rachel spitting big words like 'narcissistic' and 'pompus' at him, as well as Clarisse shoving his head into a wall.

"Heey! Yo, dude. Do you want something, or can I go back to sleep?" I was knocked out of my thoughts.

As he started to rest his head back onto the counter I said, "Wait, actually you can help me."

"Oh damn it," he mumbled. "What do you want, and make it quick. It's bad enough I have to work at the shop during my summer. I don't need you making my job harder." He was so kind.

"Okay. Well, uh, I'm looking for a gift for my girlfriend. You see-"

"Is she hot?"

"What?"

"You have a picture on you?"

Reluctanly, I took out my wallet and opened it to the picture of Annabeth I had inside of it. Logan snatched my wallet, and I swear he would have stared drooling over the picture inside.

"Dude. This chick looks _hella_ fine!" He said. I grabbed my wallet back. "Smokin' hot! Do you think I could get her number?"_ Did he really just ask that?_

"Um, no," I said coldly. This guy was seriously pushing it. If he didn't just shut up and do his job correctly, I was going to have to run Riptide through him, not that it would hurt him, that retarded mortal guy. I could, however, send him hate rays. Gods, I sounded like Rachel.

I glanced over at Nico to see how he was doing. Of course, _he_ was practically being showered with free samples. Why did he have to be so lucky?

"Hm. Jealous." That was it. Just one word.

"Excuse me?"

"I mean it's okay. I'm used to it. Not every guy can be the Princely Type like me. You're brother on the other hand, he might-"

"He's not my brother," _Why does everybody always thing that? _"and I'd appreciate it if you would just do your job, thank you very much." I was going to crack at any moment. I suppose it really is hard to find good help (that's affordable) anymore.

"Hey man, I was just making conversation! Chillax!"

"No, good sir," Nico butted back in, "but I believe it is _you _who needs to 'chill-ax'." Then he turned back to the woman. "I'm so sorry Éclair. My dear cousin, here, did not mean to cause any trouble, I'm sure. If you'll excuse us, we will be leaving now. I quite enjoyed chatting with you. Bye-bye now." He took my arm again, and waved good bye. I noticed he had a small bag full of assorted candies and chocolates.

I honestly didn't know which was scarier. The fact Nico was going all gentleman, or that Logan looked… satisfied? Proud?

I made a mental note not to go back there.

* * *

**So you like it? I'm in a hurry, so all i have to syay is please review, suggest, and wish me luck! This weekend I'm taking my high school placement exam, and I'm looking to get into the 90th percentile, and getting a scholarship. My high school ain't cheap. So yeah, got to go to youth group, so bye!**


	8. Lunch is a Game

**Hey. Wow, so it took me awhile for me to update. But you know what? I was going to update like two weeks ago, but then I got sick. The next week I had to do all my make up work, and the weeks before I had horrible writer's block. I still do kinda (so ya know, ideas please! I could probably use like two or three more things to do). I just threw this idea out there and hoped for the best. It doesn't help that lately all I've been concerned with is drawing and listening to music. Why? I dunno. Nut seriously! For most of the day, I decided to DRAW this freaking story rather than write it. I'm not kidding.**

**For proof of my weirdo-ness, go to: http:/hitheresmiley (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/Happy-Birthday-From-Nico-199033184  
It's not even funny. And like I'm like loosing smarts by doing this. I'm. not. even. kidding. It's rather sad in my opinion. Really! I just used like in the same sentence twice! And I think somewhere in the chappy I used a double negative **_**and****.****didn't****.****even****.****care**. _**It's bad_._**

**Plus, random! But it's supposed to/might snow where I live! Yay! It was hailing earlier! Now why am I excited? Because I'm a frickin Southern California girl. It _never _snows in this town. Okay, so read and review, please!  
**

**

* * *

Chapter 8**

We walked to the food court, and like the rest of the mall, the food court is _huge_. Nico seemed to be in a sour mood. I asked him what the matter was. At first he didn't answer, but then he said, "That dude in the candy shop really pissed me off! I'm sorry, Percy. I don't mean to be a potty-mouth, but really! He was stupid, rude, and just a butthead! Plus what kind of sicko is he? Drooling over of your mom like that? Just sick!"

I decided I wouldn't tell him that the picture is of Annabeth… not Mom.

"Okay then… So where do you want to eat?" I asked. Instantly he got over Logan.

"Weeeelll…" Now he was grinning. "How about… Mickey D's!" _Huh? Oh wait…_

"Uh, you mean McDonalds, right?"

"Yeah, Mickey D's." I decided to go along with it.

"Okay… Then to, uh, 'Mickey D's' we go."

It wasn't too hard finding the McDonalds there. It was the only place where you could really smell the lovely, lingering smell of fast food from twenty yards away. For Nico it was forty yards away, because right around the forty yard mark, (I'm pretty sure, I'm not too good with math and measurements,) Nico stopped, sniffed, and pulled me by the shirt the rest of the way to the McDonalds. I swear he almost just walked right up to the front of the line. But we waited. And he got impatient again.

After we ordered and received our food, we went to find an empty table. I spotted an empty one not too far from the McDonalds. We sat down to an awkward silence. Picking up and unwrapping our burgers, we both mumbled, "To the gods," and dug in.

* * *

After awhile of stuffing our faces, Nico spoke up. "Let's play Truth or Dare!" I put down my food. Was he serious?

"Why?"

"Because. You first! Okay, you have to shout 'Pink tacos eat taco salad!' at the next hot girl that walks by or you tell me your deepest darkest secret. And if you don't then I challenge you to a rap contest!

"Uh…" _Boy, I can't believe this kid doesn't know how to play truth or dare correctly. _"I don't think that's how you play Truth or Dare. You ask which one first, then you give them their task. And you do not get to give penalty challenges."

"Hm... You have a point there, but I don't care." _What? _"This is how I play. I always play like this!" _Seriously?_

"Doesn't the birthday boy get a choice?" I asked, hoping to get out of playing by his ridiculous rules.

"Nope! But I'll tell ya what. If you cooperate," he said, pulling out his goody bag from the candy shop, "I will let you pick any two candies from my bag." He was grinning like a salesman trying to sell me a magical lamp. He kind of reminded me of Travis Stoll. But really, only two? His bag was rather large, and he was only offering two pieces? _Why is my life so hard?_

I sighed. Then I realized something. I had the perfect solution: my life. "Okay," I said. "I'll play."

Nico clapped his hands together. "Excellent," he said. He looked scary. He reminded me of Connor Stoll. Why was Nico acting very Stoll-esque? It was scaring me. But I had my fool proof idea, which was good, because I was a fool to agree with his weird rules.

I motioned for him to lean closer. "Okay," I said. "I am going to tell you my deeeepest, daaarrrkest secret, and you have to _promise _not to tell _anybody, _alright." I made sure to stretch my words out to build suspense. He nodded vigorously. I motioned for him to come even closer, so I could speak in a whisper. "Okay, only some people know this about me, but my deepest…_ darkest_ secret is… that _I, _Perseus 'Percy' Jackson… am a demigod son of the Greek god Poseidon," I finished, sitting up straight taking another bite out of my burger.

Nico was blown. He still half-stood there, hunched over the table with his mouth agape. Finally he sat back in his chair, and closed his mouth, only to open it again. "You cheated."

"How?" _Sure it's not like you didn't know that already, but it _is _a pretty important thing in my life._

"It… you… but… clever." He looked a little mad, but impressed. Like he was impressed that I could have thought something like that up. "My turn!" He exclaimed. He looked at me expectantly.

I honestly hate Truth or Dare, whether it be Nico's version or not, so I tried to think of something quick and easy.

"Nico," I said. " You have to," I threw a French fry onto the floor, "eat that fry, _or…_" I couldn't think of anything, so what I said next was very strange. The first thing I could think of was, "You tell me what color your underwear is."_ I really hate this game._

"And if I don't do one?" He asked.

"I'll sell you to that pet store over there," I said, pointing to the pet store just outside the food court.

"Well then I will do both!" Nico announced. He picked up the fry and popped it into his mouth. After he swallowed he said, "And I believe my underwear is blue. Or off-white. I'm actually not quite for certain. Hey! Can we go into the pet store anyway? I want to see all the cute little puppies and kitties!"

And since I did not feel like continuing our game, I agreed. Walking towards the pet store, I had thought he forgot about our game, until he said, "I dare you to try to sell me to them anyway!"

_Oy. And it's only like one-thirty.

* * *

_

**Yes, I used the ever so cliche PJO Truth or Dare. But it's not like it's the center of the story! Heh, actually, it might be the center chapter by the looks of it... I don't know yet.**

**So remember! I need only like three more ideas! Please please help me out here! **

**Oh, and this chapter is for Nicole! Yay Nicole who had her bday yesterday, who hasn't even heard of fanfiction either, but who _has _heard of PJO, thank goodness. That PJO that I do not own, yes. And what makes me really happy that I will randomly share is that I currently have 123 reviews! Not that important, but I find that number amusing. I'll shut up so you can just review to tell me what a psycho I am.**


	9. We Pwn the Pets

**Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait. I swear I was going to update last weekend, but the computers around me sucked. they were just horrible. And because I wasn't at my own puter with my own documents, I had to type in the document uploader area. Then, _THEN _freaking FF would delete half my work everytime I would hit save. Yeah, save. How lame is that? I had a little more than half of it**** typed, and I was going to save it, and poof! It was gone. Plus, the real bummer was that the way I put this one part of the chapter was absolutely perfect and hilarious, if I do say so myself. But, I'm home now. And you know what? This chapter is probably pretty bad. I lost the motivation I had before. I felt like throwing something across the room. I swear I have anger management issues. But then again, I don't get mad very often, so I'll just say anger problems.**

**AAAnnyhoot, HAAAPPYYY BURFDAYY TO... MMMEEE! Just kidding. Mostly. Today's my FF bday! Which means I been on this site for this site for a whopping 1 whole year. OMG. But anyone who could guess my real bday before it comes will get t know a super cool, and possibly destructive secret 'bout this story! Yay, I happen to think it's hilarious! Oh and my cousin Alex's bday was yesterday! He turned... old! (Is it sad that I don't actually know?)**

**Hey, this is random! But, I've also been reading Hound of the Baskervilles (a Sherlock Holmes book), and even though we had to read it for school, I really like it! I think I'm the only one in my class that _really _likes it, though. But now, because of chapter 12, I have this new fear of falling to my death and breaking my neck. Lovely, eh?  
**

**Anyways, I don't own PJO!  
**

**

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Cha****pter 9**

Despite his requests, I would not sell Nico to the pet store. So he was sulky. I told him to get over it, and we could buy Mrs. O'Leary some dog treats. He went back to his happy self.

When we got the pet store, immediately, Nico took off to look at some chinchilla or something. I decided to check out the fish. You know, checking up on my loyal subjects.

I walked into the fish aisle, and felt all eyes on me, and I don't mean the other people around me. Hundreds and hundreds of fish eyes were staring. Then all at the same time, the fish all tipped forward, as if to bow. And in unison, as one booming voice, they said, "Welcome, my Lord." There were really too many fish voices in my head at once. I'm surprised I didn't collapse on the spot. Then they all started talking and chattering to me.

_"My Lord, what is this grand occasion, that you, the great son of our gracious Lord, Poseidon, should come to grace us with your presence?"_

Grace them with my presence?

_"My Lord, what may I do for you? Any thing, and I shall make it yours! You name it"_

What could an ordinary goldfish really do for me?

_"My Lord… Oh my Lord… Oh my _Lord_! I am not woooorrrrthy!"_

Okay… That was just unnerving, and kind of creepy. I couldn't take it. I had to lean up against a conveniently placed pole, so not to fall down. Finally, I think I think some of the fish got the idea, because they stopped swimming around like mad. I also hear a few "Shut up's" here and there.

I only had a second to recollect my thoughts when Nico came running up to me. "Percy! Percy! He ate him! He ate him!" He looked like he was going to cry. "Come on!" He said, pulling me to the other side of the pet store.

He brought me to a big- I guess you could call it a tank, with a snake inside it. The snake had a large bulge right in the middle of its body.

_Oh._

"I'm sorry, man. But you know, the little mousy guy was his lunch. It's the circle of life." _Man, I sound like I'm in The Lion King._

"But why? It's not fair. I am the Ghost King! I should have been able to stop this terribly tragic death!"

_We're still talking about the mouse, right? _I laughed. He was taking this a little too seriously. "So why don't you," I said, half joking. I mean, what kind of crazy kid would try to raise an eaten mouse back from the dead? The same kid who raises dead things on a regular basis.

"Yes…"

_What?_

"You're right, Percy."

I couldn't believe this. "Now wait a minute, Nico. I didn't really mean-"

"It doesn't matter. I've made up my mind." He closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, I swear they flashed red. "I am the Ghost King! You, little creature," he said, with force, pointing at the snake's belly, "Arise! I command you to live!"

Now normally, I wouldn't share any gruesome details, but this was actually too cool. After Nico's eyes flashed (which I _swear _happened), they grew dark again. They continued to get darker and darker. At first, when he commanded the snake belly to live again, nothing happened. Then, they bulge pulsated. The snakes eyes seemed to widen in an unrealistic way. And, right then, the mouse burst from the snakes strechy jaws. It was actually pretty amazing. But then, the little mouse dropped through the bottom of the tank. The next thing I know, it's rising from my shadow. Shadow travel.

"Be free!" Nico said. The mouse ran straight out of the pet store, and into the rest of the mall. Unfortunately, I could hear some lady screaming, most likely because of seeing the mouse. Poor mousy. Out of the frying pan, and into the fire.

I turned my attention from the mouse and its problems back to Nico. His head hung, and he was looking at his skull ring. He just stood there for awhile. I once heard him murmur, "The Ghost King…?" He looked mad, and even a little scared. I figured he was fine.

"Nico?"

He looked up at me, and smiled, like everything _was _fine. "Yeah?" He said happily.

"Everything cool?" I asked.

"Yeah! Hey Percy! Let's go look at the puppies next, okay? I want to go see those cute little doggies, though I'm sure none of them could look as cute as Cerberus as a puppy." Did I want to know what he meant?

"Uh, okay then. They're right over there. I don't know how many _puppies _there will be, but there should be a good selection of dogs."

"Cool, let's go!" He said, running to the dog area. But really, _was _everything fine?

* * *

**Okay, so next chapter I think I have pretty well thought out. Well... maybe not. But then after that, I dunno. I have two different ways i could branch out. I don't need anymore ideas (thank you to EVERYONE who suggested, I'm not done using them up, so don't worry), but for the whole general ending (happy, or otherwise), I don't know which direction I should go. This is my problem for these other two stories I want to start. But for this story... Oky, how about I ask you?**

**I could go more into this kinda darker (heheh, normal) side of Nico, and maybe drift a little away from the fun in the funny, or would you like to jut keep it all funny, and get those few spashes of serious that are necessary in a plot? Basically I'm saying do you want Nico to end up having a deeper bond with Percy (& Annabeth, this is not a Percy/Nico fic) and still be humorous? Or do you want some cheesy ending that is still good, but with a more big/little bro theme and a side characterized Annabeth? Or if it's possible, a combonation? If you could kindly review with an answer (and perferably an explanation), that would be great! Desicions kinda stress me out a little.**

**But ya know what? Ima celebrate! I got in the top 10 highest scores in my high school placement exam, and got a $1000 scholarship XD I think I scored in like the 97 percentile. It's cuz I'm Asian. Haha! Just kidding... mostly... =P  
Okay, so I'm going to let yall review now. I think these A/Ns made up half the chapter, but i still feel like I forgot to mention something. Whatever.  
Happy St. Patrick's Day!  
**


	10. We Find Death's Best Friend Jr

**Happy Birthday to MMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! It's finally 3/19! I'm turning 10! (Fine or don't believe. Jesuka-san did. And her boyfriend's supposed to be making me a moose. This is random. It's raining outside. Correction, pouring. And it'd like midnight. Almost. Okay then).**

**So of course none of you (Dude! Not even you, Reptile Princess! I thought you loved me inacompletelymetaphoricalway!) even tried to guess my bday! Haha! Good thing, too, cuz you would have never guessed it was so soon. EXCEPT. Lele-the-Greek-Geek, you are a freaking ninja. That is all. Oh, but using my deductive (and stalkerish) skills, like Sherlock Holmes, I have figured out your scheme.**

**_Any_hoot, i managed to get a decent chapter up! And in 2 days too! Be proud of me and give me lots of presents. Just kidding. I swear, if I get any freaky anonymous gifts, I'm fleeing the... eh, I like everything that I could flee. Whatever.**

**Yeah, so I don't own PJO, but most of my birthday presents from my peers will come next week (party!), so you never know by _then..._  
_Fufufufu~!_**

**(P.S. I dunno if you could tell, but the mood might change around in the chappy. Yeah, it's cuz of the music I was listening to/anime I was watching. Heheh ^^' a bipolar chapter)  
**

**

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Chapter 10**

At the time of our visit, most of the dogs were asleep. Luckily, the puppies were up and yapping. Nico crouched in front of a wire fence separating him and an adorable cocker spaniel. He stuck his finger through a gap, and stroked its muzzle. The little puppy licked his fingers in response. Nico laughed. Other puppies started coming over to him. He probably would have been swarmed if there wasn't a fence between him and them.

I looked around. The guy at the desk by the dog area was pretty much absorbed in his bike magazine. A grandma and I would assume her grandkids were looking in amazement at the parakeets and cockatoos. A young couple was within the fence's boundaries picking out a dog to take home.

At another section of the fence a little boy was also crouched down. He was laughing at a little black puppy, a Labrador I think. The boy turned. Someone was calling his name. A older girl, three or four years older at least, was telling him it was time to go. Their resemblance showed they were obviously brother and sister. The girl took her brother's hand, but before they walked off, he knelt down to say good bye to the puppy. Then they left.

The Lab just sat there and watched. After awhile, it seemed to realize its new friend wasn't coming back. Slowly, it trotted back to the rest of the other puppies, and I noticed that it seemed to be larger than most. I also noticed it walked with a slight limp.

I was so busy looking around, that I did not see Nico go into the area. And he was on the ground swarmed with little puppies of all kinds. And he was enjoying all of it. I didn't really think the guy at the desk saw what was going on, nor cared. He moved on from bikes, and was now getting really into golf.

I went in to get Nico out of the area. There was a reason for the gate. It _was _there to keep the dogs in, but also to keep the trouble-making kids _out. _And I was getting bored just standing around.

"Ah… Nico…"

"Haha! Hey stop! Haha, that tickles!"

"Uh, Nico, it's time to go. We're not really supposed to be in here."

"Oh, Percy. Chillax a little, man! Jeff over yonder said it was okay." In response, the guy at the desk, Jeff, grunted. "But you're right. We should get going. Come on little doggies! I have to go now." They started running around and scattering. Some other puppies came over to join in, and pretty much add to the chaos. Wouldn't Eris be proud?

Then I saw the little black Labrador. It seemed to be larger than before, and its barks seemed to be louder than the rest.

I think Nico noticed this as well, because the next thing I know, he's yelling at me in all seriousness, "Percy! That dog!" Trying not to step on any loose dogs, he ran over to me. "Percy, that black Lab! He's a hellhound!"

"What? How do you know that?"

"Because, I just do! And I'm sure! We have to get him out of here, it's not safe!"

"Okay, but how? We can't just take it right out of the pet store!"

"Wait, we can't?"

"Of course we can! It's not _illegal _or anything!"

"I don't need your _sass, _sir. We can figure this out. I know! Cause a distraction," he said, motioning towards the fish tanks. "Say that the fish are making a ruckus!"

"Are you serious?"

"Entirely!" _Yeah right. _"And then I'll shadow travel the little guy back where he belongs! I wonder how he got here anyway… Go! Meet me at the arcade we passed by earlier!" Nico scooped up the little hellhound up in one arm, and shoved me back toward the fish with the other.

_Here we go again. This better be worth it._

* * *

I ran from the pet store to the arcade as fast as I could. That was one of the most embarrassing things I have had to do in public. I'm sure if it was up to that Jeff guy, I would be forever banned from that pet store.

When I got to the arcade, I spotted Nico right away. He stood out like a sore thumb. He was the only kid screaming "Die you puny human! Die!" I approached slowly and cautiously.

"Nico... is everything... okay?"

He turned to me. "Oh, hey Percy! This game is so cool! You have to be this zombie guy and to get to the next level, you got to plow through as many humans as possible."

"Oh," I said at a loss for words. _What a horrible game. _"Did you get everything taken care of?" I asked.

He sighed and leaned against the game. "Yeah, but father wasn't to pleased with me. He was already upset about the usual problems down there, but when I brought a new problem to deal with, he was not happy. Plus, I think he knew it was me who sent that prank Iris Message."

"I'm sorry?"

"It's okay. So how was the distraction?"

"There is no way I'm gong to share that information."

"Oooohh. I see. Great to hear it worked out fine!"

"Shut up."

"Mm-hm. That's not very nice, Percy."

"I don't care."

"Okay, then what should we do next?"

* * *

**This is rhetorical question. I know what's coming next, so I don't need anymore suggestions. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED CONTRIBUTE TO THIS STORY, it means a lot =)**

**But did anybody read the ending A/N from last chapter? I would really appreciate it if you looked it over again and gave me your opinion. Thanks!  
I do have the general funny/serious ratio meter all idealized, but I need YOU to decide if the content should be... whatever I said before.**

**Oh poo. Due to FF's dumb problems, that always seem to come at _very _inconventient times, it is now 3/26. Lame. At least it's spring time. Like that'll fix the weather. Today was my bday _party. _I was dressed as Thalia.  
**


	11. AN, sorry! Please read!

**Hi guys. I'm sorry to say this, but I'm deleting this story.**

**Okay, I wont DELETE it, but I don't think I'll be updating anymore. I looked over it, and well… I've come to the conclusion… that I suck at writing. The grammar, the spelling, the vocabulary. God, I could go on and on about it. It's just atrocious. And it just lacks imagination and purpose. So I'm ending it.**

**And if you**_** really **_**liked it, you would have reviewed more. I mean really? I only have 178 reviews? Pathetic. I don't think any of you**_** really**_** like this at all. Why do you hate me?  
**

**Waaahh! You probably only read my story so you can laugh at my bad writing. But you know what? It's all right, though. I'm used to being laughed at. People laugh at my face all the time (TTATT like my mommy). You can tell me if you just laugh at my story. I promise I won't cry. Maybe a little.  
**

**I did try really hard. You don't even know how much trauma I've had because of this! I put my heart and soul- well actually just my hyper personality- into the characters and plot, but apparently that wasn't good enough. I tried with my whole being to not make this story into one of those crack-fics, where they only do weird random stuff, but I guess I failed.**

**So once again, I'm sorry. I'm extra sorry to those who really DID like this (the whole -3 of you). I hope you can find something else to fill the void that my story is (not) leaving.**

**If you'll excuse me, I have a hot fudge sundae calling me. Chocolate always makes things better for fatties like me. Even though I despise chocolate.  
**

**Thanks a lot,**

**HiThereSmiley =/**

**P.S. I slap floor. (You will only get it if you are holy enough XP)  
**


	12. Asian Relaxation Has Taken Consideration

**Oh shoot! What the heck is this? I am updating? Yes, well that's because APRIL FOOLS! Hahahahahaha! I hate this, but I must: LOL! Yopu guys are all April fools, except I would like to give a hand for the lovely PandasWithBazookas, blackandwhitephotos, and StarlitReader! And to ncalkins, see? all cool, new chapter here! VVVvVvVVV =)**

**Yeah... it isn't anyone's birthday today (why do I feel empty cuz of dat?). I just wanted to play a prank on all my dear readers/reviewers. I love you all! You guys are awesome! Not to be conceited or anything, but I _know _I have grammar, spelling, plot. Not perfect, but well enough to please my teachers =P I purposely worded stuff the way I did in the A/N to be oxymoronic and facetious (oh yeah +vocabulary, haha). I'm sorry if I really upset anyone, I just did it for fun. This story is NOT ending, until chapter 15, THEN an epilogue. Yeah, kinda weird thing for a comedy, but I thought of the perfect epilogue type of chapter! But, it's true that I have mapped out the ending all the way through, and it's coming soon. Late May or early June.**

**So yeah, today we went to see the play 'A Midsummer Nights Dream'. We got to wear (had to wear) fancy clothes instead of our stupid uniforms! The play itself was... weird. Just... weird. Lordie, it is _so_ hot today!  
**

**Yes, I've finally acquired the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series... NOT! April Fools! (Can you tell I love this holiday? Best prank I've done, thank you.) I don't own Asian Relaxations either.  
**

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Chapter 11**

Adventure? Was that really what he thought this was? A little adventure? "Adventure? Dude this can't be an adventure! We don't have _time _for an adventure! Believe it or not, I actually have some things to do today." I said, rather harshly. I think I was going a little insane from toady's events. My eyes widened. "Wait! What time is it?" I asked, frantically searching for a clock.

"Relax. It's only like 2:21," Nico said calmly. He dug out some candy from his goody bag (which he still had with him) to munch on. "Why don't you just sit down," he continued, guiding me out of the hot arcade, "and take some deep breaths." I sat down on a nearby bench. He took out a chocolate-covered peanut brittle bar from his bag, and gave it to me. I nibbled on it a little. I wasn't that hungry. We had just eaten lunch. "Good… Good… now do you still need the Heimlich?"

I looked at him funny. "But I wasn't choking…"

"Fine, I guess you're okay."

"Uh-huh."

We just sat on the bench for awhile, watching the people go by. We got a couple of odd looks from the passersby. I guess they've never seen two guys sitting on a bench; one being a candy eating emo kid, and the other being a crazy agitated psycho mumbling to himself. I mean, come on. It's New York. There should be _something _more interesting to stare at.

"Yeah," Nico said. It was obvious that he was completely bored. "So… How 'bout we go to that 'Asian Relaxation' place over there?"

"Uh… I'd rather not."

"Okay." We just kept sitting. Finally Nico said, "You know what? You need to relax! Really, just embrace your ADHD for a moment, and forget everything important. I know! Let's get our faces painted!"

"Aaahhh… But…" I wanted to protest.

"Uh-uh. No. You need to chill. We're painting our faces, even if it means looking like ladies. Let's go."

"But I hate face painting. It's my birthday. Doesn't Birthday Boy, here, get to choose?" I mumbled.

He didn't answer. And I got my face painted.

Unfortunately, the face painting place was just a large table in the middle of the mall hallway. So everybody around could watch two teenaged guys get their faces painted. Fun.

I requested the manliest thing on the design list. Scar from the Lion King. Yes, a lion. It was either that or something scary like a zombie or bloody face. There were children running around that mall, you know.

Nico, on the other hand, did not care how ridiculous he looked. He requested a pink and purple cat face. When he was finished, he grinned at me and said, "Look! I'm the Cheshire Cat!"

_That's really creepy… _I thought. I half expected him to add, "and I'm going to eat you now!" to the end of his sentence.

The face painters were giggling at Nico, like he was the most adorable thing they had ever seen. Meanwhile, he was making crazy faces into the handheld mirror one of them had handed him.

"Okay, Nico. It's time to go." I said. He looked at me, looked back into the mirror, and gave it back to the lady sitting at the table.

"Thanks ladies! I had such a great time, but Percy, here, says we got to go now. Bye!"

"Bye!" They all called. "Such a cute little brother he has," I heard one of them say. _Again?_

We walked away from the face painting place, and found another bench away from the large crowds. Of course, there were still many people around.

"There sure is a lot of people here today," Nico said.

I laughed. "Yeah, well, you get used to it. I've lived in New York my whole life, there's always been the tourists, but really it's just a pretty crowded place in general."

"Don't you ever get tired of it? I, as a child of Hades, need at least some time of solitude."

I thought for a moment_. I guess it _is_ kind of annoying, but it's home_. I thought of the war. "Like I said, I'm used to it. Honestly, during the war, when everybody was put to sleep or frozen in time, it was terrifying. A silent New York City is no longer the NYC. it was scary. I think it threw some of us off."

"Hmm. If you could live anywhere else, would you?"

I thought some more. Finally I said, "No. I don't think I would. I guess I would if I had to, but this is home."

"Oh."

"What about you, Nico? Is there somewhere _you _want to go?"

"Yeah," he said. "I wanna go to Italy. I want to see the land of my mother. There's still so much I don't know about my past. Father won't tell me much directly, but I believe that if I go there, I may discover something."

"Nico, that's…that's…" I was at a loss for words. "That's really cool, man."

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so." We just sat there for awhile longer.

"Hey, can I take this off now?" I asked referring to my face paint.

Nico thought for a second. "Fine," he said. "If we can find a bathroom in this place."

"Cool, 'cause this face paint is kind of itchy, and it's annoying me." We got up from the bench, and began walking. _A bathroom shouldn't be too hard to find, _I thought. That was before I knew we would be taking a detour. I saw a restroom not too far away from where we were standing, probably twenty yards off. I turned, and was about to show Nico, but he was pointing in the other direction. He was jumping up and down like he was really excited.

He looked back at me, and I saw that look in on his face. _Oh, boy… _He tugged on the sleeve of my shirt like a little kid. "Percy,_ look_! We _have _to go inside!"

* * *

**Yeah. So this wasn't a very funny chapter. Sorry. There wasn't much to the chapter, so I tried to use a lot of description/dialogue to make it to the good and safe 1000 word sized chappy. But expect more humor in the next chapter! After that, sorry, but there will be some seriousness. But still with the funny in there. The chapter after next should be cool! Well, until then, review! (Oh yeah, and I'm honestly not trying to be a review whore. Faves and alerts are okay, too. I do prefer reviews, though, because I like talking with you guys and I loved your input in the story!)**

**Oh, and wish me luck! Tomorrow I'm competing in this ballet competition! I really hope I can place!**


	13. Mythomagic Comes to Town

**Hey all! So I really like this chapter! But it killed me. **

**Okay, so I love you guys and all, but I don't get how even after I post a new chapter after that A/N, people still review and get upset about it. It just don't make sense. Whatever. There was something else I was going to say, but I forget.  
**

**A very special Happy Birthday to my best friend growing up, Jonah! Haven't seen him in a couple years, but hey! Still my bestest friend back in the day! So I used his name.  
**

**I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or some of the, uh, descriptions I used. you'll get it, maybe.  
**

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**Chapter 12**

"Come _on!_ Please, I _have _to go in just for a second!"

"But it's- I thought you were done with Mythomagic."

He looked torn. "Yeah, but… Oh, come on! Just for a _second?_ It was my life's dream to go a Mythomagic convention, and there's one right here in your mall's convention center!"

"But there's a restroom right over there-"

"Yeah, and I bet there are a hundred more in the convention center, so let's go!" Nico started pulling me through the crowd, which seemed to have become more dense, and all the while I couldn't help thinking, _Wow… one hundred bathrooms… I wonder if they're ever all full…_

* * *

I lost him.

I don't know how, but I had managed to let that kid loose in the mall alone again. _My bad._

I walked out of the bathroom, where I had just come from washing my face. Unfortunately, not all of the paint would come off. All the darker colors washed away just fine, but the pink and white scar could still be seen. Most of it was gone, but my skin was a shade different, so it really looked like I had a scar right around my eye. And _because_ it was right on my eye, I didn't want to scrub very hard, especially since all that was available were only paper towels and hand soap.

The convention center, like the rest of the mall, was indeed quite huge. There were a lot of people at the convention. I didn't know Mythomagic was so big. I thought it was just some kids' hobby, but there were plenty of teens, seniors, and adults around. I decided to explore a little to see why it was so popular.

Everywhere there were people dressed in really weird costumes. I think they were supposed to be the characters from the game, but… weren't those characters supposed to be the Greek myths? These people looked nothing like the gods, or at least something close. I was so confused.

At some point I was handed a flyer, or a miniature poster by some old lady decked in pink.

The poster had what looked like a group picture on it. It was awful, yet hilarious. I found out that day, just by looking at a piece of paper, that Mythomagic was basically a competitive game using the best mythical stereotypes there are. I should explain.

First off, the picture was done using that comical style. I think they call it manga. Or maybe it's anime. I can never remember, but it's the Japanese version.

I don't know where to start. That lady who gave me the flyer was _supposed _to be Aphrodite. The Aphrodite in the picture was also very pink, yet she was very curvy and all those pink parts didn't look like scraps on her. They had an elegant way of flowing. Apollo, who was shirtless, had bulging muscles and was glowing. He also wore this golden headband thing with a sun painted or engraved- I wouldn't tell- in the center. His sister Artemis was actually pretty close to the original, considering mortals didn't really know what she looked like. She was wearing a short, white dress with long sleeves. Like Apollo, she was glowing with a headband. Only hers was silver and crested with a moon. She and Apollo were cuddled together on the left and looking toward the "audience" with a scared look, and Aphrodite behind them.

On the right, were Ares, Hephaestus, and Hermes, as well as Athena. As expected, all the gods were buff and all muscles. They each had their respectable traits. Ares, Hephaestus, and Athena in their armor, and Hermes with his caduceus. They all looked close enough to what you would expect. Athena, however, looked _very _different.

She was wearing a flowy light blue dress that was knee-length under her armor. Her hair was shoulder length, and a strange dark gray, almost blue, color. Strange to think that this lady was supposedly my girlfriend's mom. But she was pretty. She and the other gods on the right looked ready for battle, and creepily happy about it.

Then at the bottom of the flyer, were the rest of the goddesses- Hera, Demeter, Persephone, Amphitrite, and Hestia. They were all sitting at the bottom looking pleasant and pretty. Then of course there was the Big Three. The three sons of Kronos. They were all portrait pictures a little faded in the center behind the big MYTHOMAGIC in the middle.

Zeus, at the top right, looked dashing as ever, and very powerful. Poseidon- my dad- was in the middle to the left. He was just as buff as the rest of the gods, young, and happy, just like in real life. Then there was Hades, in the bottom right of the center. I'm not going to lie. If I wasn't a guy and knew him for real, I would be a total Hades fangirl. That is pretty much all I have to say about it.

The flyer was overall pretty good in general. I got a kick out of it.

I was so busy looking at the pictures that I didn't see the guy I plowed into. "Shoot, I am so sorry!" I said, helping him up.

"W-what?" He said standing up quickly. Then he shot his hand up and called out, "Two fifty!" I didn't notice that I had wandered into an auction.

"Whoa, you're going to pay $250 for something?" I was really curious to know what could be so valuable. "What are they auctioning?"

The guy looked at me in disbelief. Glancing back up at the podium every once and a while he said, "Only the rare and extremely amazing figurine of the Hooded One!"

"The Hooded One?"

"Two sixty-eight! Two ninety! Wait, what? The Hooded One! Oh em gee, you don't know who that is? The great lord Hades! He is soooo bomb!"

It was my turn to be in disbelief. "You would pay almost $300 for a little Hades figurine?"

"Heck yeah! They are so rare! Two or three years ago, when they were first released, somehow they all disappeared!"

I didn't know what to say. "Wow," I mumbled to myself. "To think Nico got _his_ out of a junk yard." _Well, it was a _godly _junk yard._

"WHAT?" The guy grabbed me by the shoulders. "I will pay you that whole $300 right now in cash if you give it to me!"

"What? No, I- it-" Other people started looking over at us.

"$350!"

"No, it's- it was-"

They started joining in on the bidding. "I will give you $400!"

"No, what about- other auction-?" They weren't listening. They were ganging up on me. So I did the only rash thing I could.

I ran.

And they followed.

Costumes, props, and all.

I rounded and ducked through different booths all over the place. I kept looking back behind me to make sure they weren't following me. They still were.

I rounded another booth, only to come face to face with that dude again. "There he is! Please, I will be your personal slave I swear!" _Okay, that's weird._

I just turned the other direction and ran some more, and nearly knocked some kid over. "Hey watch it! Oh. Hey, Percy! Fancy seeing you here. Way to forget about me."

Thank the gods! It was Nico. "Nico! Hey man! Never been so happy to see you! Any idea how to shake crazy fans?"

He looked behind me at all the crazy people after his figurine. "Please!" They begged, "I will pay you anything for that Hades figurine! Name your price!"

Nico just looked at them for another second. Silently he unzipped his jacket all the way, and pulled out the little figurine. He held it up and announced, "The Hooded One is not for sale! And leave Percy alone, he's just a noob!" The fanatics dispersed, but not without a couple of curses and dirty looks. "Stupid cosplayers..." Nico looked at me, and said superiorly, "You can thank me later. You're just luck I have such a way with people." He gave me this stupid grin like, _I'm so cool, haha, and you owe me._ I glared at him.

Then next to him I heard laughter. "Oh my God, Nico! You didn't tell me you had another brother that was so funny! Hahaha!"

"Huh?" _Funny?_

"Oh, sorry," Nico said. "I forgot. Jonah, this is actually my _cousin, _Percy. Percy, Jonah. We were in the same class and used to play Mythomagic together before… you know…"

_Oh, I get it. Before his life was ruined? _"Yeah, I get it. Nice to meet you." I stuck my hand.

He shook it. "Likewise."

So we ended spending another half an hour with Jonah at the convention, then he got a call from his dad to come home. "Yeah, I gotta go, now. Bye, Nico"! Nice meeting you, Percy. I wish I had a brother or cousin as cool as you. Hope to see you guys again!" We waved to him as he disappeared into the crowds.

"I wonder what time it is," I thought aloud.

"It's like four. Crunch time."

"Wait, what? Crunch time?"

"It's almost time for your date with Annabeth. C'mon. I'm going to help you get that perfect gift now."

* * *

**Yay! So this chapter was definitely the longest. I dunno if the rest will be this long, but I do know it's going to get a little more serious now.  
**

**Now, I have a special request. In a review or not, please say a prayer- to whatever god you believe in- for those with Leukemia. It you really must know why, ask and I'll PM you. It's a little freaky. Please do this. if not for me, then for them. Well, for them, ANYWAYS, I should hope.**

**Thank you so much,  
HiThereSmiley ;)  
**


	14. Nico Gives me the Pit of KFG

**Yeah, first off, I am so sorry for not updating! I'VE BEEN LAZY AGAIN. I was originally going to update on the 19th for my twin's (no comment. unless you ask) birthday, but I was sick. Then the next day was like my back up day (for another childhood friend. Well really, just a buddy :P I'm weird), but I was STILL sick. I hate being sick. Then I got lazy. This week I have read a very large [and unhealthy] amount of SHOUJO MANGA. I'm telling you, it's a deadly and addictive thing. I've blown off EVERYTHING to read it. It's evil.  
**

**I think it influenced the chapter too much! There's this part... well, I'll say later. R&R!**

**Oh yeah, and to tridentguy23676 : Leukemia, in a nutshell, is bone marrow cancer. It's very sad.**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

I didn't know why Nico was being so serious all of the sudden. Did something happen when I wasn't paying attention? I mean, Jonah and his Mythomagic conversations were pretty boring, but I know I didn't zone out of any attitude turn-arounds. Oh, well. He'd come off it in a little while.

We walked- actually I walked, and Nico did this march stomp thing full pride and determination it seemed- to the parking lot. Just before stepping onto the asphalt from the sidewalk, Nico made a sharp turn to the left. he headed toward the side of the mall where there were a lot of trees, bushes, and garbage cans.

_Where is he going? _I thought. "Hey, Nico! Where are you going?" I called. "The car is this way," I said motioning to the parking lot.

He waved me over. "I know! But just come with me! It's crunch time, remember?"

What did he keep meaning by 'crunch time'? I jogged over to him. He had almost already reached the side. _Man, he's fast._

The side of the mall was pretty dark. It was a little creepy, with all the shadows. At any moment, we could get jumped or mugged. I could just see Annabeth standing with me making some sarcastic comment about me and optimism. I laughed to myself. I guess that's why I liked her so much. In the weirdest situations, whether she's there or not, she can make me laugh. Or very confused by using big words like 'optimism'.

"What's so funny?" Nico was waiting for me, looking very scary in the shadows of the trees.

"Uh… nevermind." We stood there in silence for a little while longer. "So…" I prompted.

Nico stood there and stared at me for awhile longer. "We're here."

…

"Yes, yes we are. How come? Why are we just standing next to these garbage cans?"

"I told you, we're getting that perfect gift now."

I looked around. "Ohhh. Okay, Nico. I'm sorry, I didn't understand for a second. So who's going first? Me up that tree or you into the dumpster?"

The son of Hades glared at me. "Not the _dumpster, _Percy. The _shadows_." The way he said "shadows" sent shivers down my back. He drew his Stygian iron sword. I had no idea where he pulled that out from. He felt the blade, then polished it by breathing on it and wiping the sword with his shirt. He spun it a few times. _Show off…_

Mid-thought, Nico stopped and thrust the blade into the ground. Right into the shadowy ground, the sword sunk. He was kneeling, holding it down. He started murmuring what I assumed was some ancient chant. Then it happened again. His eyes flashed this deadly red color for just a moment, and went away. He stopped chanting, gave the ground one more thrust with the sword, and a black hole of darkness appeared.

Nico took his sword from the dark hole. Standing up, he put it back where ever he got it in the first place. I'm telling you, that aviator's jacket is magic. The hole was rather scary. It was just a hole in the ground. Smoke was even emanating from it. It just looked evil. When I asked him about this, he just shrugged and said, "Dunno. Probably not if you don't want it to be." That made a lot of sense.

He pulled me closer to the hole, which was now bubbling with darkness. We knelt down beside it. He proceeded to tell me the history of this dark, but not evil (probably), magic. He had learned about it during his time in the Underworld. Apparently, strange things were happening with him, like new powers and such. When he said this, I said back to him, "You know, if you ever need to talk about this, I'm here."

"Yeah?"

"Uh, yeah. Well, I mean and like Annabeth and Rachel, and Katie, and… Clarisse…"

"You're listing all girls," he noted.

"And Chiron! Chiron, our good ol' teacher, Chiron! Yeah!"

Nico looked at me funny, then rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say Percy. Thanks. Now As I was _saying…_" He continued with his story about the hole and its powers.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, give or take, I had learned actually quite a lot. The hole was known as _Pit tou Gno̱rízontas , Aísthi̱si̱ , kai dínontas_, or the 'Pit of Knowing, Feeling, and Giving (the Pit for short by Nico)'. You stick your hand into the Pit, and it judges you. It knows. And based on your intentions (feeling), it gives. But that's not all. You had to be careful, because sometimes, if the Pit _knows _that you are not _feeling _the way a just soul does, it does not _give. _It _takes._

The key was emotion. You could, according to Nico, as well as a few souls that lived to be _old, _the Pit could- and has been- tricked.

"Just focus on what's important. Like a dip in the Styx, only less painful and more mysterious! You just win that perfect gift from your very own heart that the Pit shall grant you! It'll be fun!"

"You aren't the one sticking your arm down a creepy black hole in the sidewalk."

He tsked at me. "Now, now, Percy. That 'creepy black hole in the sidewalk' is your friend, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," I grumbled, while pushing my sleeves up, even though they were already at my elbows.

Cautiously, I approached the Pit with my hand. I hesitated. The bubbles increased, to the point where it looked like the darkness was boiling. The smoke still curled from its bubbly surface. Finally I just plunged my arm into the Pit, and cringed.

I don't know why, but I naturally would think boiling meant intense heat. Yes? No, apparently not for the Pit of Knowing, Feeling, and Giving. If anything, the Pit felt rather cold. Icy, almost. It was starting to hurt. _Um…ow…OW… Oh, right…_ focus.

_So what did I really want from this pit?_ The cold seemed to get less intense. I could feel little squishy particles within the darkness. it was hard to explain later, but the darkness was not solid, liquid, _or _gas. It was just… complete darkness. _Well, wow, there are plenty of things I want, not only for just myself… _The darkness seemed to harden, and heat up. _I mean, for Annabeth… I want the world! And my mom, too. She's done so much. And even Nico, over here… _The darkness was squeezing and burning my arm off. _But how could I bring the world to them? They deserve way more than that. I- They're the most important thing to me! Them, and Grover, and Paul, and Camp! I guess they… _There was a sharp pain in my arm. _But it doesn't matter, because… I love them all! _Just then, an image- a vision? a memory? who knows- formed in my head. Athena. She whispered three words to me, _"Personal Loyalty… Love…" _The pain had left my arm. The squishy particles materialized a little more.

_"I got it now," _I whispered back. I wonder if anybody actually heard me. In a flash, I saw myself. With everybody I had ever tried to save, taking down the rest of the world with me. Then finally, my mind landed on me and Annabeth. The knife incident. She had taken the knife for me during the second Titan War. Then, we were back at Camp, I assume _after _the war. _"August 18th. Your birthday, right?" _ It faded away, and I felt something in my hand. I took my hand out of the darkness, and it all drained back into the ground.

Nico was sitting cross-legged across from my, his elbows resting on his knees. He looked bored. When he saw that my arm was free and still attached, he sat up straighter. "Well, _that _was exciting!" He said happily. Then he realized I was actually holding something I was given. "What'd you get? What'd you get? What did you get!"

I opened my palm. It was… a necklace? _After all that, I thought the 'given' thing would have been a little more… I don't know… deep?_

Apparently Nico felt the same way. "What the heck? This is a necklace. Dude, you got gypped. You were having like mini seizures, and going in out of consciousness! Ten minutes for that? Wow. Lucky guy, are you, sir."

I looked at the necklace some more. It was a black heart, on a silver chain. Plain enough, but it felt like it had power.

"Whoa, wait a sec! Lemme see it!" I handed him the delicate necklace. "Oh my gods! Percy, this is real black obsidian! And even better, this chain is Celestial silver! Do you know how rare this is? You could say it's more valuable that Celestial _gold _(but it's not)! It's usually solely reserved for the Hunters of Artemis, and the goddess herself. This is amazing!"

I took back the necklace. "Well, then I guess we better get a move on, and deliver it."

"Yes… We shall… Mission accomplished!"

* * *

**Yay! So how was that? I was _going _to say that there was this part that was too mushy. Fluffy. GIRLY. But I didn't know any other way to finish it seriously, without it being stupid! _[Too late.] _Whatever. I honestly didn't like this chapter as much as I was originally going to. =( This was supposed to be the serious chapter. And the next one probably, too. But this one was just as long (I think) as last! Yay!**

**Percy Jackson and the Olympians belongs to Rick Riordan. But the Pit of KFG belongs to me! ;P Oh, by the way, I just used Google Translate for the Greek part, so I dunno how accurate it is.**

**So yeah. Please review!  
**


	15. The Power of Toffee is at Hand

**Hey all! Guess what?**

**Chikin butt. Just kidding. Read "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, and you will be disturbed! :D Listen to Vocaloids and you will be cool (inmybook)! XD Read the back of Firegirl and you will know the whole book! =P Hahah! Okay, so that's pretty much what I been wasting my life doing. Luckily, I got less that a month of this school left, and then I can do fun stuffs!  
**

**Oh yeah! Link minus spaces: http:/ hitheresmiley. deviantart .com/art/A-Necklace-206759368 -Annabeth's [weird-looking] necklace. :P**

**Anyhoot, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MAILEI AND JENNY! They are not twins. Don't think they've ever met. XD I used Jenny's name, and will probably use Mailei's next chappy. Such a pretty name, eh?  
**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

We walked back to Paul's Prius- well, I walked. Nico skipped to the asphalt, singing, "I Whip My Hair Back and Forth," while vigorously whipping his head… well, back and forth. Then he sprinted the rest of the way. When I got to the car, I saw him sitting on a nearby parking block gnawing at this chocolate covered pretzel stick.

We got in the car, and I started driving toward Annabeth's boarding school. The school year hadn't started for her yet, so she was still at camp most of the time. Today she was supposed to be moving in or something. Her school was kind of further out into the country. It was located in more a suburban area. It was only a little after 4:30, so there was time for the drive.

Nico took out a small fancy looking box from his bag, untied the bow, and started shoving toffee into his mouth. "Percy," he said, "Give me the necklace. We can wrap it in this fancy chocolate box!"

Reluctantly, I took the necklace from my pocket and handed it to him. The Celestial silver chain gleamed in the sunlight. The black obsidian heart hung from the chain like a drop of darkness as I passed the necklace to Nico. The heart spiraled at the bottom, and there was a decorative hole to one side. Actually, it looked a little bit scary. you know, for jewelry. Nico took the necklace as he popped the last piece of toffee into his mouth. "Mmm… This chocolate tasted funny. But I think I like it."

"It tasted funny because it wasn't chocolate. It was toffee," I explained.

Wiping the inside of the box with his shirt, he asked, "Is toffee like coffee?"

"Um… No, I don't think so."

He placed the necklace into the box, and retied the ribbon around it. "Okay, good because Bianca always told me not to drink coffee because it would be disastrous."

"Oh."_ Why couldn't she have told him that Red Bull would be disastrous, instead?_

"Yep, I wouldn't want to cause any disasters."

"…No comment…" We just sat there for a few minutes listening to the radio down low. Finally, Nico announced he was bored. "Well, why don't you tell me more about the necklace?"

"Well, obsidian is-"

"Yeah, volcanic rock. I know that, but what about the chain? What does 'Celestial silver' even do? Honestly, I have never even heard of it."

"How did you know what obsidian is?"

"I'm not _that _dumb. I remember it was like the only question I got right in fourth grade, learning about the three types of rocks."

"Oh. Weeeeeell-" he went on for about another twenty minutes talking about Celestial silver, its properties, powers, rarity, and how much the Hunters hog it all. "And _especially _the chick who wears the crown!" He said.

"You mean the lieutenant? You mean _Thalia_?" I guess that was something bad, because all of a sudden Nico looked panic-stricken.

"Please don't tell her I was bagging on her circlet-crown-thingy. Please, don't let her eat me!"

"Eat you?"

"You _know_ she would."

I thought a second. "Yeah, probably."

We sat quietly for a second, then burst into laughter. The thought of Thalia eating him was hilarious.

When we were about ten minutes away from Annabeth's boarding school. I was trying to figure out how to say this nicely. "Uh… Nico…?"

"Yes, Percy?"

"You remember our deal?"

"I didn't do anything _too _illegal today!"

"Uh, no. The other one."

He thought for a moment. He looked like he was racking his brain, trying to remember. "Oh yeah!" He exclaimed. "Don't worry 'bout it. I'm gone." And with that, as we passed underneath a bridge, he sank down through the car using the shadows around him, leaving the toffee boxed necklace for Annabeth in his place. I craned my neck to try to use the rear-view-mirrors to see what happened to him. I saw him jump the brick wall beside the road- a few cars honking at him- sit on it, and wave at me.

The rest of the drive all I could think was, …_Son of Hades is a Greek ninja…_

* * *

Now even though school wasn't in session yet, I felt incredibly awkward going into an all girls boarding school. The awkward things that happen are quite unnerving. The way all the girls look at you; the way the teachers look at you; or the best one: the way they sometimes _talk _to you. Awkwardness. I wonder how bad it would be if I had visited Rachel at Clarion.

I had to go into the school office to get a visitors' pass or whatever. "Here you go honey." The secretary, who looked like she should _attend _the school, handed me the pass. I turned to leave, because she still talked to me like an old lady. "Oh, and her dorm's Riordan, which is not the building to the right, but the next one. Room 2-A. You enjoy yourself now. Don't forget to knock!" She called after me. I looked over my shoulder.

"Uh, thanks!" She gave me this creepy smile.

I walked to the Riordan building, and found 2-A. I knocked just to humor the secretary. A short girl with short brown hair and blue eyes answered the door. She just stared up at me for what felt like forever. Finally I said, to break the silence, "Hi."

Instead of saying hi back the girl jabbed her finger right at me and said in such a loud, almost annoying, voice, "Who are you?"

"Um, Percy?" I said, but it sounded more like a question.

The girl was about to say something else, but luckily Annabeth came to the rescue. "Ah, it's okay, Jenny. Percy's here to see me. And I think we'll be leaving now, so bye." Annabeth pushed me out the door, and closed it after her. "Sorry," she said. "Jenny has always gone to an all girls' school, and she kind of… you know, scared of guys."

"Oh. But I'm not scary, right?"

She just looked at me for awhile. "Your IQ is a little scary."

"Oh, gee, thanks."

She laughed, "You know I'm just joking." Surprisingly, she then tackled me into a hug. "It's good to see you Seaweed Brain."

I hugged her back. "You too, Wise Girl."

We broke away, and I took her hand. I admit that even after a whole year, I still get a little nervous around Annabeth when it comes to holding hands or hugging or… kissing. "You ready to go?" I asked.

"Yeah. I know we had plans to catch a movie, but I don't really feel like sitting in a theater for two hours."

"Do you just want to skip it and go to dinner?"

"Yeah, is that okay with you?"

"Sure. I mean, if that's what you want. Where do you want to go for dinner?"

We started walking out the Riordan dorm building, and to the car. Since we were, and _are _poor high school students, we decided to go cheap. We decided on a city diner called N'Yorker Burgers. It was cheap, but not too bad in quality. When we got into the car, I handed Annabeth her present. "Happy Anniversary," I said.

She took the present, looked at the box, sniffed, looked at me, and tried to stifle a laugh while she said, "Thank you Percy, but you didn't get me toffee, right? Did I ever tell you that I despise toffee?"

I groaned. "No, it's not toffee. Nico wrapped it. In a toffee box."

"Oh, okay. You were with Nico today?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you all about it over dinner. Now open it!"

This time she laughed. "You're such a little kid sometimes." _Not as much as Nico, _I thought. Annabeth untied the ribbon and took off the lid of the fancy toffee box. At first her face was full of feign happiness. Then, when she took the necklace out of the box, she seemed to realize what it really was. "Oh my gods, Percy- Is this what I think it is?"

"Black obsidian and Celestial silver? Yes, that would be correct."

"How in the world-?"

"It's a secret. Nico is a very creative kid. Do you like it?"

"Yes, thank you!" She said, giving me a kiss on the cheek. And yes, I probably did blush.

"Put it on," I said. Then I started the car, and started driving. She slipped the chain over her head (it was long enough), and it looked really good. On the way to N'Yorker Burgers we talked. We talked about camp, school starting, the huge influx of demigods, the rebuilding of Olympus, Clarisse's new spear, the Stolls' latest pranks, the Stolls' latest punishments, word from Thalia, and other really boring stuff. Normally I would fall asleep when just talking like this, but with Annabeth I didn't feel like falling asleep. Plus, you know, I was driving.

A few minutes- about ten or fifteen- later we got to N'Yrker Burgers. I have to say, that wasn't their best of evenings.

Actually, I thin it went rather... bad.

* * *

**Okay, so originally this chapter was not going to end there, but I'm kinda tired and my allergies are killing me. I really did not expect this chapter to be this... easy. I mentioned that I just phail at romance, right? I mean the only other romance (if you could even all it that) was unreqited. And Percy/Nico, which I don't even really support. Go figure.**

**Anyways, sorry for the strange and (I felt was) kinda random chapter. I do not own PJO, Red Bull, the Toyota Prius, or anything else that... I just don't own. EXCEPT N'Yorker Burgers. Dat's mine. Such a cool name, right? No, very lame. Yeah, i'm really tired, and my rist hurts. I know I'm forgetting I fell like I'm getting progressively dumbererer... **

**Review! c(=  
**


	16. Three Strikes and We're Out

**So a happy late birthday to my friend Brigid!  
I used her name as well as Mailei's and Kateri's (my "twin").**

**I'm sad. Why? Because this is the last chappy of Happy Birthday From Nico. Yes, yes, it's true. But stay tuned for an epilogue type of chapter afterward! I already have it mostly written. Okay, I can't think of anything I need to say right now. But watch, I'll remember in half an hour.**

**Anyhoot, I do not own PJO, the Toyota Prius, Red Bull, or any thing else that I may have missed.**

**Oh yeah! I can't believe I actually remembered in time. A special thanks to BabyYou'reAllThatIWant for pointing out that mean ol' Annabeth didn't Percy a bday gift. For anyone who was also wondering but was just too lazy to speak up and ask, I explained why in this chapter. I can't believe I didn't catch that before. Tch. Anyway, you're awesome! Thanks! Everybody go check out her stuffs okay? Yes? Read and review! *flails arms*  
**

* * *

**Chapter 15**

As we got into the N'Yorker Burgers parking lot, Annabeth seemed to be contemplating on saying something or not. I parked and was about to get out of the car when she touched my arm. I turned to face her, but she didn't say anything. Finally she blurted, "Percy I feel bad for not getting you anything, so I insist on paying the bill."

I sighed. We had already gone over this before. "Annabeth, I told you I didn't want any birthday presents this year. I'm just happy I lived to this year. I'm getting the bill." _Was this her deadly pride thing getting the best of her?_

"Yeah, I remember, but it's just that you got _me_ something when it's not even my birthday! Let me take half."

"That was for our anniversary and for being an awesome girlfriend. No, I'm taking full bill. It won't be that bad. It's N'Yorker Burgers, remember?"

She blushed when I said 'awesome girlfriend', but still persisted. "Just the tip, then. I _am _paying somehow." I figured that she would end up winning somehow, like she said, so I agreed to the tip. "Good," she said, and smiled. "Shall we go?"

I smiled back. "Yes, we shall."

* * *

We got inside, and found it was already pretty hectic. There were only twenty or thirty booths and tables in the room to begin with, but they were almost all taken. It was pretty crowded. Annabeth found a seat and after awhile a waitress came over to us. She looked very… flustered.

"Good afternoon! Oh my, it's actually pretty late, huh? Ah, well then, um good evening! My name is Kateri, and uh, what can I get you? Something for you to drink, yes?" She asked, pushing up her glasses and taking out a small notepad.

"I think I'll have a water, and Annabeth?"

"I'll have a water, too, thank you."

The waitress did a nervous laugh. "You're welcome. I'll be right back with those waters." For some awkward reason, she gave a little bow and scurried off to another table. She picked up some empty dishes and headed for the kitchen, nearly dropping all the silverware on the plates. This gave Annabeth and me some time to talk.

We talked a lot in the car, so at first there wasn't much for us to talk about. Then she remembered my day with Nico. "So how was it?"

"Uh, you know it was pretty normal. The usual crazy Nico that we all know and love."

"Oh really? Care to share?"

I was about to tell her more about how crazy Nico had been all day, when Kateri came back with a tray of drinks. "Hi, I'm sorry! I mixed up all the drink orders and I feel so terrible and I don't know which two are yours so if you could please tell me, did you order a lemonade and a root beer?" We shook our heads, and Annabeth was about to tell her "Water" but she kept guessing. "Oh no! Uh… a Sprite and a coffee? No, wait it was a Cherry Cola and a Brisk! Right? Wait, I don't thinks so! Oh no oh no oh no oh no!"

"It's okay," Annabeth said. "We ordered two waters."

"Oh, thank you! Okay, so two waters. Water… water… water… water!" Kateri found two glasses of water on her huge tray of drinks, but knocked over a few others. "Oh no! Oh no!" The poor girl tried sitting them back up, only to spill more. She even set the tray- which was now dripping- on a nearby table much to the dismay of the other couple sitting there.

Meanwhile, Annabeth and I were sipping our waters, talking more about Nico. "Yeah, so he's bouncing in a bounce house and I'm being attacked by a demonic cheerleader!"

Awhile later, a new waitress came over. "Hi, I'm Mailei. What can I get for you?" The way she was smiling at me made me uncomfortable. Annabeth was looking at her menu, so she didn't notice.

"Mmm… Percy, you go ahead first."

"Okay, well since I already had a burger today, I'll have a grilled cheese sandwich."

The waitress giggled. "Okay, _Percy. _And, um, what do you want Little Miss?" Annabeth cocked and eyebrow at her and ordered a Caesar salad. "Oh, trying to cut back I see," Mailei commented. Then she left to get our orders, with both our mouths agape.

After that we continued our conversation about my day with Nico. Then, our subject shifted slightly.

"Heeeeeeeeeeelllo! It's me again! Just checking to see if you need anything?" It was the waitress. Again. In the last five minutes, she had stopped by at least twice.

"Um, no. Thanks, though," Annabeth said.

"I didn't ask you." Mailei dropped her happy disposition, and storms into the kitchen.

"Okay then…"

Not thirty seconds later, Mailei returns- still without our food- holding two menus. "Would you like to order any desserts? Today's special is strawberry short cake!" Then she winked at me.

I was thinking about how I never really fancied strawberry shortcake, when Annabeth answered yet again, "No thanks. We'd like our _dinner _first. If you could do that for us, that would be great thanks."

Our waitress snapped, or something. The next thing I know, she's screaming, "Okay! Here I was trying to be nice and offer you some cake, and there you go yelling at me! Leave me alone, I'll get your food in a minute!"

"Oh shut up already, Mailei! You're bothering everybody around you. Go home already!" An older waitress- probably in college- came over and dragged Mailei back into the kitchen. She came out and introduced herself. "I'm Brigid. Sorry for all these problematic people. What can I get for you now?"

This whole ordeal at N'Yorker Burgers was pretty troublesome. "Well-"

"Oh yeah, and could you make this fast, I got other tables I need to attend to."

"Uh, yeah. Okay then. We still haven't gotten our order."

"Okay, coming right up." Brigid sped into the kitchen, and three minutes later our food was on the table. We said our thanks and dug in, but she still stood there with her hands behind her back. "You need anything else? More napkins? Salt, pepper, a drink refill?" It was obvious that she wanted our table free, and that we would be bothered until we left. I looked at Annabeth. She looked back at me. We came to a silent agreement.

"Could we just get a to-go box and the bill."

From behind her back she threw the bill, as well a box, onto the table. I don't even know where she got them from. I suppose that waitress was_ really_ hoping we'd leave. "When you're ready just pay up at the front counter," she said quickly and started picking up dirty dishes like there was no tomorrow.

Annabeth and I went up to the counter and paid. Annabeth kept her end of the deal, and paid the tip. We decided three bucks was fair. We happily walked out of N'Yorker Burgers.

"Well now that was awful," I commented.

Annabeth laughed. We were just about to the car. We didn't get to park too close. "It could have been worse. You're lucky. They could have sung 'Happy Birthday' to you. Oh wouldn't you just love that?"

I didn't get to answer, because just then a shrill scream pierced the air. "PEEEEEEEERCYYYY!"

"Nico?" Annabeth and I said at the same time, because that was _not _a manly scream. As he was running (about as fast as a fat cow, but probably still faster than me) toward us, he didn't even look scared, yet he kept giving these shrill shrieks of panic.

"She's after me! Help! Too.. tired…" He came over to us and plopped on the ground by our feet. For a moment, nothing happened so Annabeth and I were very confused. Then, out of nowhere Ms. Dodds charged us. And, it really _was _Ms. Dodds, not just Alecto. For some random reason she was in her Ms. Dodds get-up. Nico jumped up from the ground, and braced himself against the Prius, which we had reached by the time he got to us. "Leave me alone!" He yelled at the fury.

"Come with _me _sonny! Come a-_long!_"

"Ew. No, back off!" Alecto lunged for him. Luckily, a foot intercepted that lunge.

"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to go through us, first." It was Annabeth. "Percy, attack."

"What am I, your dog?"

"No, I just didn't bring my knife. So attack. Pretty please?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." For the second time that day, I battled some ugly that crossed my path.

* * *

The good news is that Ms. Dodds was gone. The bad news is that I didn't get a good swipe with the sword in for the whole fight. I would have been totally dead or really badly scratched up, did I not have that whole Curse of Achilles thing going on.

It was actually Annabeth that defeated Alecto. Kind of. You see, Alecto grabbed her around the neck and threatened to squeeze if we I didn't hand over Nico. Then the coolest thing happened, and the necklace I gave her pretty much incinerated the fury. Monster dust flew. It was rather beautiful. Nico was sprawled on the hood of the Prius. At first it looked like he was sleeping, but he got up and dusted some monster dust off of himself.

Nico started to swoon, so I reached out to catch him if he fainted. He feigned to the right (towards me), glanced at my arms, and fell the other way back onto the hood.

"Are you okay, Nico?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah, just grand. Though I think I have been doing too much shadow traveling lately."

"Why did Alecto have _you_ on the run? Shouldn't the furies _obey _you?"

"Yes, that's what I said! But apparently it's a no! 'Only Hades,' they say! How lame is that? And I wasn't even causing that big a ruckus. They can't tell me not to entertain myself! I am the Ghost King! I do what I want, and they do not send me to my room!"

_What? _I laughed. I couldn't help it. Annabeth joined me, and so did Nico, even though I don't think he knew why we were laughing. That's when I remembered something Annabeth said back at N'Yorker Burgers. _"Well it sounds like you guys had fun. That's really good. I'm no psychologist, but I know that Nico needs to be a kid more often. Chiron said spending time with him might break him out of his shell."_

It was beginning to get dark by now. Summer was ending. "Say, Nico. If you were really that bored, then you should have just come with us."

"But you said this morning-"

"Yeah, I know. But what I'm saying _now _is that- um, feel free to come by to hang out once in awhile, okay?"

He looked confused, then he grinned. "Oh I see what you mean. You're really sly, Percy. But thanks. Maybe I will."

"What do you mean by 'sly'?"

"Oh, I'm sure Annabeth knows what I mean, righty? A wink wink."

Annabeth shook her head. "Um, no. Actually I have no idea what you mean."

"Oh. Okay, then nevermind. Hey! Is that leftovers?" He was pointing at the Styrofoam box left over from the diner. I left it on the car by the Prius. I kind of lost my appetite after everything that happened.

"Annabeth?" She nodded.

"Sure, let him have it. I wasn't really hungry anyway."

Nico fist-pumped. "Yesssss! I was thinking about calling on Bianca tonight. I want to tell her all about today. But… do you guys want to say hi, too?"

"Why not?" Annabeth said. "I'm up for it. What do you say, Percy?"

"Sure. I guess it would be nice to see her again." Really, I just wanted to see Bianca see how her little brother was doing. I was sure she'd be proud. He was among the living, so to speak.

"Cool! Now where did I put... Oh man! I left that Red Bull in Father's palace! Oh well, we can just use hose water!"

As the shimmering ghost of Bianca di Angelo appeared before us, I knew. Even _I _was proud.

You know, in a completely normal way.

* * *

***sobs* And it's over. Well, aside from the epilogue thingy.**

**So I was thinking... Um, nevermind. That's for next chapter. I can't remember what else I was going to say though, and it's really bugging me.**

**Oh yeah! The personalities given to Brigid, Mailei, and Kateri are completely different from their real selves. They are all really sweet girls... except when they tell me I'm going to die alone with cats... Just kidding! Please review!**


	17. Epilogue

**Hey~**

**So yes, this is the final chapter/epilogue if Happy Birthday From Nico. So for this final chappy/epi, a special Happy late Bday! and an early Welcome Home! to JadedofMara!**

**Anyway, thank you to everybody for reading, reviewing, and supplying content to the story! You all are amazing folks! I hope you all have a nice summer! To kick it off, I put up a new poll, so if you want you can go check it out! Later today or tomorrow, I plan on posting a new story, so you could also check that out... If I actually get it done...**

* * *

**Epilogue**

It was early Christmas morning. I was nice and cozy, wrapped in my covers… with somebody poking me. "Is he awake yet?" The voice asked. "He kind of looks dead."

"Nah, he's alive and drooling. I don't know if we should be waking him up. It _is _pretty early," a second voice said. Both voices were trying to whisper, but were failing horribly; I could here them loud and clear.

"Well, of course I knew he wasn't dead. Just who do you think I am, again?"

"Nico, are you challenging my intelligence?" _Oh gods… It's _Nico.

"No, ma'am."

"Didn't think so." _And that is most likely Annabeth…_

"Yes, well I think I am going to wake him up now. I'm getting tired of waiting." _Holy Hades, here it comes, _I thought, bracing myself. "Wake up, Percy! We didn't come all the way over here at 6 o'clock in the morning to watch you drool!" Ugh, I knew what was happening all too well. Déjà vu, anyone?

Obviously, I wasn't going to get to sleep in… _again, _so I got up. At the same time, they both cheered, "Merry Christmas!" I rubbed my eyes to make sure what I was seeing was right. Evidently it was. Staring at me from either sides was Annabeth and Nico in extremely cheesy and strange festive-wear.

Annabeth's blonde curls were pulled up into two ponytails on either sides of her head, tied with Christmas colored bows. She was wearing a red sweater and plaid flannel pants. Nico was a reindeer. It _really _seemed like he was trying to dress like a reindeer. He was wearing his usual aviator's jacket, but instead of black or blue jeans he had on brown corduroy pants. Over those pants he wore oversized brown cowboy boots. They looked about two or three sizes too big for him. On his wrists he used leather straps with jingle bells attached as bracelets and a choker/collar thing. Finally, to top it off, the son of Hades accessorized with a sparkly brown antler headband. That was what gave away the fact he was trying to be a reindeer.

I looked at them. "Uh…" I said, trying to think of something real to say in response to… them. I felt out of place in my T-shirt and sweats.

"Well? Are you going to get up so we can open presents or not?"

I was still a little dazed from having just woken up. "Uh… yeah. Sure," I said, and we headed for the main part of my apartment.

* * *

Even though we don't live in a swanky big house like some people, my mom insists we get a live Christmas tree every year. So we always have. This year, like always, it wasn't a very large tree, but the smell of pine filled the apartment. Underneath it was about no more than five boxes, each a humble size. Two were from Nico, and one was from Annabeth. The other two were from me to them. All the other gifts to and from various people, satyrs, cyclopes, etc. came (or were sent) in an envelope in the wreath on the coffee table.

As I expected, Mom and Paul were still asleep. "I'll play Santa Claus," Annabeth volunteered. She took her box from under the tree. "I want you guys to open mine first. All four of yours are in there. You two, your mom's, Percy, and Paul's." I let Nico unwrap and open the box for the four of us while I made some hot chocolate. When I got back, Nico had four scarves hanging from his fake antlers. "Yeah, um, I tried out knitting. It wasn't actually that hard, you know with weaving being Athena's thing."

"Hey! Is that why scarves all of the sudden became the newest rage back at camp?" Nico asked.

"Uh, yeah," she said, blushing. One by one she took them off his antlers, and 'assigned' them to us. She handed me a blue and green striped scarf, and Nico a Black one with a few thin white stripes. For Mom, Annabeth used a pretty red, brown, and blue yarn. Paul's had a green and brown yarn. She put both scarves back into the box for them later.

"I like the colors," Nico commented.

"Yeah," I agreed, "they're cool."

She laughed. "Thanks, I'm glad _you _think so. I just about gave Thalia a heart attack when she saw her electric blue scarf. She said that it reminded her of the Fates cutting her string before she died. That was an odd sentence to say. Anyway, I assured her that it wasn't the same yarn and showed her the silver strings intertwined with the blue. She calmed down a bit, but I still think it freaked her out. Then Grover tried to eat his and claimed the colors reminded him of his favorite enchilada _can label_. Then lovable Drew flat out said she despised the color magenta."

"Eh, forget Drew. _I _like 'em," Nico said.

"Me, too," I agreed again.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome," we both said. She smiled and took the next box from the tree.

"From Percy, to… oh, me." She tore the paper off the package and laughed. It was a T-shirt that said, "SMART BLONDE" on the front. "Thanks, Seaweed Brain. Glad to know I'm not being stereotyped."

"You are very welcome," I replied.

Then out of the blue Nico said, "Ohhh! I get it, now! _Smart_ blonde instead of _dumb_ blonde! That's funny."

Annabeth took the other box from me out from under the tree and handed it to him. I admit that it wasn't the best gift ever, but I thought he'd get a kick out of it. I wrapped the box about three or four times, first off. Once he got all the layers of wrapping paper, he then had to dig through old newspaper (in place of tissue paper), but eventually he got to the gift itself.

A Red Bull with a $10 bill wrapped around it. I remembered on my birthday he really seemed to like drinking it all throughout the day. The ten buck was just there because what kid didn't like getting cash.

The thing was, though, with this plan, I expected him to get all happy about it. Instead, he said, "Ew. Red Bull is gross."

I think I dislocated my jaw, because it _must _have hit the floor. "Dude, I thought you liked loved it."

"Well, yeah, that was during the summer. Later in life, a heard this quote, 'Monsters are like Red Bull, only twice the size, sugar, and awesomeness'." Then out of nowhere he drew a green Monster drink from his jacket, and waved it at me.

"Who told you _that_?"

Annabeth laughed again, and raised her hand. "Guilty is charged," she said with tears in her eyes from laughing so hard.

"Hey, it's pretty true," he said.

And why am I not even surprised that Nico's super amazing Christmas presents to us were also Monsters. "Yeah, I just boxed up a six-pack and took one for me. That way there's one for each of us and another one for me!"

_What the heck? _I thought. He's so weird. But then I thought, _Why not? _

Poor Mom and Paul had to deal with three hyper teenagers when they woke up on Christmas morning.

* * *

It was later in the evening- about eightish- so it was dark out when Nico and Annabeth left to go back to camp. They left the way they came, via the fire escape outside my window.

"You came up this way…?" I asked.

"Yeah, why?" Annabeth said.

"Uh… nevermind…" _Why couldn't they have come up through the main lobby and through the front door? _I wondered.

"Okay," she said back. Then she kissed me and disappeared onto the fire escape and into the darkness, leaving me blushing. "Bye, Percy!" She called.

"Yeah, bye Percy!" Nico said, as he hopped out my window and onto the fire escape. "Oh shoot! I almost forgot. Er, um… here! I keep forgetting to give this to you." He handed me a paper strip.

"Uh, thanks?" I said, but it sounded more like a question.

"Welcome. See ya around, Percy!" And with that he was gone.

"That kid sure is a strange one," I said to myself, though I did have to admit this was one of the best Christmas days I've had. It was really fun. I closed the window, and took a good look at the strip of paper. It was a photo strip, like the ones you get when you take pictures in those photo booths. In the four pictures on the strip were Nico and me. Well, actually only three of them, because in one of them Nico practically had his face shoved up the camera. On the back of the strip he wrote in this horrible chicken scratch that I could barely read,_ "To Percy- Thanks for letting me follow you around today. It was stellar. Happy Birthday! -From Nico"_

It took him this long to remember to give this to me?_ That was like four months ago. _I had to laugh. Nico really was weird sometimes.

Though I did have to wonder… _When did we take pictures in a _photo booth_?_

* * *

**The world may never know...**

** Anyway, thanks again to everybody out there! Honestly, I think this was the best (by 'best', I mean not psychotically weird... still weird cuz I'm a weird kid just like Nico ;D) chapter thing I've done for the story. Kinda sad, but whatever. Anyhoot, I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Red Bull, or Monster (which totally IS way better). Monster quote actually came from my cousin, haha! So yeah...**

**Um... I think that's it... [watch I'll remember something else half way through new story...]  
**


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